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Wall St. :Banks stock rally ; RH Jumps on earnings as Nike faces China backlash

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The stock market rally had another rough session on  Wednesday, with the major indexes closing at session lows. The Dow Jones erased a solid gain, while the S&P 500 undercut a key level.

The Nasdaq fell below 13,000.

Bank stocks rose in extended trading on Thursday after the Federal Reserve announced its plan for lifting restrictions on dividends and buybacks from financial companies. The major U.S. banks announced last March that they would stop buying back stock during the Covid-19 crisis, which had just caused a dramatic sell-off in the equity markets and raised worries about financial stability.

The Fed said it would keep its pandemic-era restrictions on banks in place until June 30. The Fed had previously said that banks could restart their buybacks and dividend hikes in the first quarter, so Thursday’s announcement is a delay but does provide more clarity for investors.

Bank stocks have performed well in recent months as investors grow more bullish on the prospects of an economic recovery.

Shares of JPMorgan Chase rose 1%, while those for Citigroup and Wells Fargo each added 0.7%. Goldman Sachs climbed 0.5%.

Dow Jones futures turned lower Thursday morning, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures, reversing from modest gains. RH (RH), GrowGeneration (GRWG) rallied on earnings late Wednesday while Dow Jones giant Nike (NKE) sold off amid a social media backlash in China.

Applied Materials (AMAT) briefly cleared a buy point while several chip-gear peers also rose on Intel (INTC) spending plans. But even they faded into the close.

GameStop stock surged as much as 53% on Thursday after it found technical support at its 50-day moving average. The stock had previously tumbled 34% following its first earnings report since a wild short-squeeze failed to impress investors.

Meanwhile, on the COVID front, the Social Security Administration has sent information to the IRS that will help clear the way for almost 30 million people to receive their $1,400 stimulus checks.The development comes after Democratic leaders on the House Ways and Means Committee gave the agency 24 hours to turn over the payment information so that the IRS could process the payments.

In a statement, the lawmakers, led by House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal, D-Mass., blamed Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul for the delays, which “defied congressional intent and imposed needless anxiety and pain on taxpayers.”

The federal government is dramatically ramping up vaccine production and several states have already expanded vaccination eligibility to people age 16 and up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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