Member Article

JP Morgan shares higher during CEO testimony

Shares struggled for direction today following the late surge in markets towards the end of trade yesterday. In terms of economic data, most came in as expected in Europe with nothing to surprise investors. In the US however there was some disappointment in Core Retail Sales for May, which fell 0.4% on the month. The data’s hint towards a weakening economy led to a slight decrease in the yield of US treasuries, possibly as a result of increased quantitative easing speculation.

JP Morgan shares jumped following Jamie Diamonds testimony to the US Senate during which the bank’s CEO suggested they may seek to reclaim some of their $2 billion trading losses from those employees responsible. He also clarified that the position was a genuine hedge that was designed to protect the banks if the economy were to deteriorate further, as opposed to a speculative gamble as many have suggested. Shares in the bank traded higher by around 2.5%.

The FTSE 100 managed to recover from some afternoon weakness to finish 0.2% higher at 5483, with the major European and US indices finishing/trading in negative territory. Miners and industrials were found at the bottom of the UK’s blue chip index.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by James .