Stock futures fall after Goldman, Citi earnings

NEW YORK — Stock futures fell Thursday as investors were disappointed by earnings reports from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc.

The market’s expectations for bank earnings have increased after JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a high bar Wednesday with a surprisingly strong profit that helped propel the Dow Jones industrials past the 10,000 mark for the first time in a year.

Goldman Sachs said it earned $3.19 billion, or $5.25 per share in the third quarter. Profits were boosted by increased activity in fixed income, commodities and currency trading. But revenue from its investment banking operations fell sharply from the previous quarter, reflecting slow activity in dealmaking. Goldman also said it set aside about $5.35 billion for compensation and bonuses, more than in the prior year third quarter.

Citigroup, meanwhile, reported a slightly smaller loss per share than expected but said its credit losses remain elevated.

Bank earnings are a particular focus for investors, as a healthy banking system is integral to a strong economy, and the best indication that the market has recovered from the financial devastation of last fall.

Tech firms Google Inc., IBM Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices will issue their results after the market’s close Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Dow jumped 144 points to close at 10,015 — its biggest gain since Aug. 21 and highest close since Oct. 3 last year. Broader stock indexes also rallied to 2009 highs.

Ahead of the market’s open, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 40, or 0.4 percent, to 9,912. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 5.90, or 0.5 percent, to 1,081.80, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 8.25, or 0.5 percent, to 1,739.50.

The Dow is now up 53 percent since hitting a 12-year low in March, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up 61.4 percent and the Nasdaq composite is up 71.2 percent. Some believe the market is overvalued, given the problems that still plague the economy, including high unemployment.

The earnings reports from major corporations are the key to keeping the market’s rally going. Investors want to see companies grow their profits through sales and not just cost-cutting, which would signal that consumers and businesses are becoming more comfortable spending again.

JPMorgan, the first major bank to report its quarterly results, set a precedent for its peers on Wednesday, reporting a $3.59 billion profit that came in well above Wall Street’s expectations. Though the bank said it expects loan losses to remain high well into the future, business in its investment banking division is booming, and should help to offset those losses.

Goldman shares fell $6.16, or 3.3 percent, to $186.12 in premarket trading, while Citigroup shares lost 19 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $4.81.

In other earnings news, Southwest Airlines Co. said it lost $16 million in the third quarter because of fuel hedges and an early retirement program. Excluding those one-time items, the discount carrier said it would have made a profit of $23 million.

Also Thursday, investors will get a number of economic reports, including the Labor Department’s weekly tally of initial claims for jobless benefits, as well as its September report on inflation.

Economists believe new claims for jobless benefits likely rose slightly last week to 525,000. First-time claims, an indicator of recent layoffs, fell in the prior week to their lowest level since early January. Separately, economists expect the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index rose just 0.2 percent in September, after a 0.4 percent gain in August and a flat reading in July.

In other trading, bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.44 percent from 3.42 percent late Wednesday.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies. Gold prices slid about $14 to $1,050.

Oil prices added 3 cents to $75.21 a barrel in electronic premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average jumped 1.8 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.5 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.4 percent, Germany’s DAX index was down 0.4 percent, and France’s CAC-40 lost 0.2 percent.