The Dow Jones closed lower on Friday, pressured by a decline in the financial segment in Wall Street, after JP Morgan and other big banks posted mixed numbers that gave the fourth-quarter earnings season a shaky start. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 they recovered ground in the afternoon to close higher.
The actions of JPMorgan Chase & Co sank -6.15% to $157.89 after reporting weaker performance at its equity trading unit, despite beating earnings expectations for the fourth quarter.
The US lender also warned that rampant inflation, the imminent threat of the Omicron variant and stock market earnings – which will return to normal levels – pose a challenge to the growth of the banking industry in the coming months.
Shares of Citigroup Inc fell after reporting a 26% drop in fourth-quarter profit, while shares of asset manager BlackRock Inc also fell after missing earnings estimates.
Goldman Sachs, American Express and Home Depot also pushed the Dow lower.
“Sentiment is pretty sour even though the fourth-quarter earnings period officially kicks off today… It looks like inflation remains the main concern,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research in New York.
The consumer discretionary index also pressured the indices after data showed a decline in retail sales in December and a deterioration in consumer confidence.
The index Dow Jones ended the day with a loss of -0.56% to 35,911.81 units, while the market reference S&P 500 it gained a marginal 0.08% to finish with 4,662.85 units. The Technological Index Nasdaq it gained 0.59% on the day with a final record of 14,893.75 units.
For the week, the S&P 500 fell -0.3%, the Dow fell -0.9% and the Nasdaq fell -0.3%. The New York Stock Exchange will be closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King holiday.