Stocks rise on bank earnings
U.S. stocks closed higher Wednesday following better-than-expected profit reports from Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.
The two big banks helped lift all three major stock averages into positive territory and offset worries stemming from the overwhelming defeat of British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan.
Goldman Sachs revealed fourth-quarter profit $2.54 billion, or $6.04 per share, on revenue of $8.08 billion. Analysts had expected profit per share of $4.45 on revenue of $7.63 billion.
Bank of America reported fourth-quarter profit rising to $7.28 billion, or 70 cents per share, well above analyst estimates of 63 cents per share. Revenue climbed to $22.74 billion, higher than Street estimates of $22.39 billion.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 44755.89 | -154.76 | -0.34% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 6046.65 | +14.27 | +0.24% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 19410.662282 | +192.50 | +1.00% |
Shares of First Data soared more than 20 percent after Fiserv announced it was buying the company in an all-stock deal worth $22 billion
Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert won in a bankruptcy auction for the struggling department store chain with an improved takeover bid of roughly $5.2 billion.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| shldq | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |
| fisv | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |
| fdc | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |
European markets finished the day mixed. London’s FTSE slipped 0.5 percent, Germany’s DAX added 0.4 percent and France’s CAC gained 0.5 percent.
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In Asian markets on Wednesday, China’s Shanghai Composite ended trading flat. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finished the session up 0.27 percent. Japan’s Nikkei ended the day lower by 0.6 percent.
U.S. stocks closed higher Tuesday as rising shares of tech and biotech companies boosted major equity averages.
FOX Business' Ken Martin contributed to this report.