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Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

US earnings: banks kick things off in fine style

JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo have set a high bar for the first quarter earnings season in the US with better than expected earnings.

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(Video Transcript)

Q1 earnings start with a bang

It's been a great start to the first quarter (Q1) earnings season in the US with three of the biggest banks reporting some numbers that beat analysts expectations.

We saw numbers from JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo, three very different banks in terms of their overall out.

JPMorgan

Let's look, first of all, at the reaction in the market to what's been happening at JPMorgan.

You can see quite clearly here the reaction to the market with that stock currently up 5.8%. This is ahead of the US trading day today. These are all-session stocks on the IG platform. So we've got a situation where it's benefited from this reported surge in profit in the first quarter and an increase in deposits as the Wall Street giant continues to weather the turmoil in the banking sector.

It's delivering these record results today with profits soaring 52% to hit $12.6 billion while its diluted earnings per share was $4.10, significantly ahead of the $3.70 expected by some analysts. So that was a better than expected number coming through from JP Morgan Chase.

Citigroup

Then came the turn of Citigroup. Now, Citigroup had already risen some 3% in the market ahead of its earnings after the numbers coming through from JPMorgan Chase.

But in fact, what happened was that we have subsequently seen a little bit of a sell-off in that gain that we've got. Still, Citigroup is expected to rise at the start of today's trade. The company came through with a $4.6 billion in earnings, far ahead of expectations. But the big gains we saw earlier on in the session have now evaporated a little bit. But the message is here that it's broadly speaking, pretty good numbers.

Wells Fargo

Look at this. This is all-sessions on the IG platform for Wells Fargo. Now this is one of the biggest domestically orientated banks.

I was talking there at the top about three very different banks, Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase have a lot in common. But Wells Fargo is very different because it represents the consumer and it's the consumer here that's being analysed. And quite frankly, the numbers have come through with an impressive number earning $5 billion.

Wells Fargo beat expectations in the process with that stock at 4.98% ahead of the open of the US trading day today, which are likely to be led higher by these banks.

This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.

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