Stock market today: Dow ends higher as banks attract dip buyers amid earnings beat

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By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com -- The Dow cut losses to close higher Friday, as investors bought the early-day dip in banks following a string of better-than-expected results, though concerns about a weaker economy linger.  

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.33%, or 112 points, the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.71%, and the S&P 500 gained 0.40%.

Wall Street banking stalwarts JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) and Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) reported quarterly results that beat on both the top and bottom lines, ending the day in the green following dip-buying activity. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) and BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK) also delivered better-than-expected quarterly results, while Citigroup (NYSE:C) reported a fall in profit on higher credit costs.

Some of the shine from the wave of quarterly earnings was dimmed somewhat by guidance that suggested economic headwinds were on the horizon that could hurt the consumer and weigh on loan demand.  

JPMorgan said a “mild recession” was its base case and warned that it was beginning to see a slowdown in its auto lending business at a time when the bank’s home lending business has also come under pressure.

The latest University of Michigan survey on consumer sentiment, however, pointed to a much healthier economic outlook, hitting a 12-month high. But that was driven by a fall in energy prices, which some believe may prove temporary.

“The narrative has swung too much in the favor of lower commodity prices going forward,” Will Rhind, CEO and Founder of GraniteShares told Investing.com’s Yasin Ebrahim in an interview Thursday. “But that [energy] is still a sector of the market where they are big concerns and problems with supply.”

“Don’t look for the price of energy, oil, or gas to be on a linear move down from here…I think that there’s still a lot of potential for a surprise to the upside, especially with the ongoing war in Ukraine,” Rhind added.  

Elsewhere on the earnings front, Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) also reported a beat on both the top and bottom lines. The airline's outlook on first-quarter earnings of between 15 cents to 40 cents a share fell short of estimates amid higher labor costs. 

Defensive stocks were also a drag on the broader market, paced by a decline in the Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT), and Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) after Goldman Sachs delivered a cautioned outlook on the sector as concerns about U.S. government debt could weigh on defensive spending.  

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) closed 1% lower after Guggenheim downgraded the stock to Sell from Neutral on worries that the company’s fourth-quarter results, due Jan. 25, are likely to fall short of Wall Street estimates. The electric vehicle company also slashed prices in Europe and the U.S. to boost waning demand. The price cuts come just weeks after the EV maker cut prices in China for the second time in as many months.

The weekly gain for the broader market was helped by the inflation report earlier this week that cemented bets on smaller Fed hikes ahead, starting at the central bank's next meeting in February.