Stocks Gain As Banks Hit Highs – US Market Wrap

Wall Street kicked off the earnings season with stocks hitting all-time highs as big banks rallied after posting solid results.

The S&P 500 topped 5,800, notching its 45th record in 2024. Equity traders worried that the start of Federal Reserve rate cuts would sap bank profits saw things weren’t that bad, with JPMorgan churning out a surprise increase in net interest income. Each stock rose at least 4.4%, pushing the KBW Bank Index to the highest since April 2022.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, extending gains into a fifth straight week – its longest winning run since May. The Nasdaq 100 added 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1%. The Russell 2000 climbed 2.1%. Tesla dropped 8.8% after the unveiling of its Robotaxi was light on specifics. Uber and Lyft jumped over 9.5%.

Treasuries saw small moves, with shorter maturities outperforming. A Bloomberg gauge of US bonds posted a fourth straight week of declines. The dollar barely budged, while capping a second consecutive week of gains in anticipation of a slower pace of rate cuts. West Texas Intermediate oil settled below $76 a barrel.