The Morgan Stanley headquarters in New York, US, on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
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What you need to know today
The bottom line
The pullback in stocks on Wednesday was brief, like a marathoner pausing to drink before pounding the road again.
“Yesterday’s weakness does not change the intermediate and long-term uptrends, and we believe it will prove to be just a pullback within the context of a longer-term uptrend,” Piper Sandler said in a note.
After dipping from its 43,000 level on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.79% Wednesday to break that barrier again, closing at 43,077.70.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.47% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.28%.
Markets are basking in the glow of a positive earnings season so far. Around 80% of the 50 S&P companies that have posted earnings have topped expectations, according to FactSet data.
Morgan Stanley, for one, reported third-quarter figures that surpassed earnings and revenue estimates. The bank’s profit jumped 32% from a year ago, far outstripping the LSEG estimate and topping several other big banks’ income growth.
The investment banking business was a main source of profit for Morgan Stanley. Supported by the U.S. Federal Reserve beginning its rate-cutting cycle, initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions are emerging from hibernation, injecting fresh life into Wall Street banks.
Morgan Stanley popped 6.5% after results. The SPDR S&P Bank ETF has jumped more than 6% over the past five trading days. In another sign of the rally broadening, the banking ETF has outstripped the S&P 500’s climb of less than 1% during the same period.
“We anticipate the macroeconomic and earnings environments to remain favorable,” UBS says, “which supports staying invested in equities.”
With monetary policy easing, the economy staying strong and inflation cooling — import prices dipped 0.4% for September, according to the U.S. Labor Department — stocks look like they have stamina to keep going higher.
– CNBC’s Hugh Son, Alex Harring, Jeff Cox, Lisa Kailai Han and Jesse Pound contributed to this story.
