Mortgage

S&P banks index sees best day since March

Investors anticipate positive bank earnings

The Dow Jones and S&P 500 each posted significant gains on Monday as investors prepare for the big banks to report their second quarter earnings later in the week.

The S&P banks index increased by 2.7%, its greatest daily increase since March 26, 2018, according to an article by Caroline Valetkevitch for Reuters. Overall, the S&P 500 financial index lead gains among sectors with its rise of 2.3%.

Friday, the big banks will kick off earnings season as JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup each report their second quarter earnings.

However, while the banks are expected to post positive earnings reports, that doesn’t necessarily bode well for mortgage lending. In the first quarter of 2018, JPMorgan posted an increase, despite a drag from its mortgage origination volume.

At Citi, the story was much the same as the bank saw a slight increase in earnings despite a downward pull from mortgage banking revenues. And Wells Fargo saw an increase in its earnings, but also revealed it was facing a fine of $1 billion from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The mortgage banking revenue for the banks is less certain as lenders continue to struggle in the rising mortgage rate environment. In fact, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported lenders had a negative profit in the first quarter for the first time since 2014.

The MBA’s report showed Independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported a net loss of $118 per loan originated in Q1 of 2018. The report showed production expenses for mortgages increased significantly, hitting a new survey high.

On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 320.11 points to 24,776.59 and the S&P 500 increased 24.35 points to 2,784.17.

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