Financialinsiders.com

Market News Recap Week Ending January 18th, 2019

NEW YORK, January 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

Financialinsiders.com News Commentary  

U.S. stocks began the week strong as investors anticipated the upcoming earnings season and the Dow Jones Industrial posted three days of consecutive gains leading into Thursday. Citigroup kicked off the earnings season and reported better-than-expected results, lifting the markets on Monday. The rally continued on into Tuesday even though JPMorgan Chase missed its earnings estimates. JPMorgan has not missed its earnings estimates in nearly 12 straight quarters now. The bank's results were quickly suppressed by stronger-than-expected earnings from United Continental, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs, sending markets surging on Wednesday. The Dow Jones gained 233.07 points or approximately 1% from Wednesday's close into Thursday's afternoon high of 24,284.38. The markets then spiked in late afternoon on Thursday after reports surfaced of the U.S. possibly easing trade tariffs with China. Regardless of the positive trade news, markets began to edge lower towards the end of Thursday's trading session. Since Monday's opening bell into Thursday's jump, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had gained 659.2 or 2.7% points, while the S&P 500 gained 73.06 points or 2.8% in the same time-frame, and the Nasdaq Composite rose by 220.2 points or 3.1%. Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU), Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: APRN), United Continental Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: UAL), The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)

Netflix reported its fourth-quarter results after the market close on Thursday and surpassed expectations for subscriber growth and earnings, however, shares still declined. Although Netflix missed its revenue estimates, U.S. markets continued to remain green shortly into Thursday's extended trading hours. American Express also missed its estimates, which sent shares declining by 2.7%. Despite the number of large corporations missing their estimates, markets maintained almost neutral levels throughout Thursday. "There are so many earnings reports yet to come, and that's why you're not seeing more movement in the markets today," Tom Martin, Senior Portfolio Manager at Globalt Investments, told MarketWatch.