Despite a slow, choppy start yesterday, stocks climbed again in the afternoon to finish with healthy gains. Today, we are again hearing better-than-expected earnings news, but the futures market has been fairly non-responsive, with current indications pointing to a flat start.
The earnings news this week has not been good in most instances when comparing things on a year-over-year basis. However, what has been supportive this week is that most earnings reports, like the recent economic data, have been better-than-feared.
Financial giant Citigroup surprised Wall Street as the company delivered its first profit in more than a year. The company was expected to report a loss. Citi’s results come on the heels of better-than-expected earnings from financial peers Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase. General Electric and Google also topped estimates. We will get a clearer picture of first quarter earnings next week as 130 of the S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report, compared to the 29 reporting this week.
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