A trifecta of top U.S. bank stocks, including Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and Citibank (NYSE: C) rose on Wednesday after J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. reported earnings that were 30 cents per share better than wall-street estimates. The insurance sector also weighed in on earnings and lifted financial stocks by more than 2%.
J.P. Morgan Chase led bank gainers, rising more than 3%. Bank of America rose 3.2% to $18.48, Citibank shares rose 3.3% to $4.99 and Wells Fargo shares rose 1.6% to $30.53. In the insurance world, Genworth’s stock went up by $0.53 or more than 4.8%. Hartford Financial’s stock rose about 3% and Lincoln National gained about 1.78%.
Citigroup is expected to report its quarterly earnings results on Thursday and Bank of America is expected to report its earnings on Friday.
JP Morgan Chase announced sharply higher earnings, surpassing most estimates on strong investment-banking results, but the positive results were lessened by an significant increase in non-performing assets. The firm stated that it had made $3.6 billion, or 82 cents per share, compared to $527 million, or 9 cents a share that it had earned a year ago. Most analysts had expected a profit of 52 cents per share.
JP Morgan Chase’s revenue jumped to $26.6 billion from $14.7 billion. The firm’s Tier 1 capital ratio, which is a closely watched monitor of financial strength, rose to 10.2% from 8.9% a year earlier. At the end of the second quarter, JP Morgan Chase’s Tier 1 capital ratio was at 9.7%
