US markets settle mostly in green on Friday

15 Jan 2022 Evaluate

The US markets settled mostly in green on Friday amid financial shares struggled after earnings results. The Dow showed a notable move to the downside, the tech-heavy Nasdaq bounced off a three-month closing low. A steep drop by JPMorgan Chase (JPM) weighed on the Dow, with the financial giant tumbling by 6.2 percent despite reporting better than expected fourth quarter earnings. Citigroup (C) also moved lower after reporting a significant decrease in fourth quarter profits, while Wells Fargo (WFC) moved notable higher after reporting fourth quarter results that beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

The overall volatility on Wall Street came as traders reacted to a slew of US economic data, including a Commerce Department report unexpectedly showing a steep drop in US retail sales in the month of December. The Commerce Department said retail sales tumbled by 1.9 percent in December after edging up by a revised 0.2 percent in November. The sharp pullback surprised market participants, who had expected retail sales to come in unchanged compared to the 0.3 percent growth originally reported for the previous month.

Inflation concerns have also contributed to a bigger than expected drop in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of January, according to preliminary data released by the University of Michigan. The report showed the consumer sentiment index fell to 68.8 in January from 70.6 in December. Street had expected the index to edge down to 70.0. The Federal Reserve also released a report unexpectedly showing a modest decrease in U.S. industrial production in the month of December. The Fed said industrial production edged down by 0.1 percent in December after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.7 percent in November. Street had expected industrial production to rise by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.5 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Nasdaq rose 86.94 points or 0.59 percent to 14,893.75 and S&P 500 was up by 3.82 points or 0.08 percent to 4,662.85, while Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 201.81 points or 0.56 percent to 35,911.81.

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