US stocks rise as banks report near-record profits; CPI slows, fueling hopes for continued Federal Reserve rate cuts.
US stocks rose sharply following strong earnings reports from four major banks: JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo.
The banks reported their second-most profitable year ever.
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JPMorgan achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first US bank to exceed $50 billion in annual profit.
Goldman Sachs saw record revenue from its equities trading division.
Citigroup reported record revenue in three of its five key segments: wealth management, US personal banking, and services.
Wells Fargo, while having the smallest presence on Wall Street, recorded a 62 per cent increase in annual revenue from investment banking.
Bank of America and Morgan Stanley are set to announce their results on Friday AEDT.
In other news, the core Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December rose at a slower rate than anticipated, indicating a potential easing of inflation.
This development has strengthened expectations that Federal Reserve policymakers may have room to continue cutting rates.
Consequently, the yield on the US 10-year bond dropped by 14 basis points to 4.66 per cent.
Similarly, UK yields fell by 16 basis points to 4.73 per cent after services inflation in the UK decreased to 4.4 per cent in December, down from 5 per cent in November, a more significant decline than the 4.8 per cent economists had predicted.
