Results of the U.S. government’s Stress Tests officially come out today, but all of the results were leaked out on Wednesday, pushing stocks to 2009 highs as investors were relieved by the results.
The S&P 500 is up 4.13% on the week, the Dow is up 3.01%, and the Nasdaq is up 1.58%.
Investors were concerned on many fronts in anticipation of the release, but in the final tally none of the 19 banks were considered insolvent by the government. Among the banks that must raise capital, Bank of America must raise $34 billion, Wells Fargo will need $15 billion, and Citigroup will need $6 billion. Plans are to be submitted June 8.
According to the Financial Times, Citi’s equity needs are in excess of $50 billion, but they have already bolstered their balance sheet by converting preferred shares selling non-core businesses.
The following banks were told they have sufficient capital: J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, MetLife, American Express, Bank of New York Mellon, and Capital One.
Thursday’s Data:
Only two bits of U.S. data will be released today, both at 8:30 am EST.
The weekly report on Jobless Claims is expected to show continuing claims reach a new record high of 6.350 million, while initial claims for the week ending May 2 are expected to rise to 635,000. The weekly report posts the most recent news for the labor market, but the data has no direct effect on April Nonfarm Payrolls, to be released Friday morning.
Also at 8:30 am is the Q1 report on U.S. Productivity and Unit Labor costs. Productivity is expected to have advanced by 0.4%, erasing the 0.4% reduction seen in the final quarter of 2009, while unit labor costs are set to advance 3.1%, on top of the 5.7% gain in the prior quarter.