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GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks off after JPMorgan, dollar gains

Published 01/15/2010, 12:50 PM
Updated 01/15/2010, 12:54 PM

* World stock index turns negative after JPMorgan results

* JPM reports Q4 income $3.3 bln; retail banking weighs

* Dlr rise pushes euro down nearly 1 percent

(Adds New York trading)

By Sujata Rao and Al Yoon

LONDON/NEW YORK, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Investors sold shares globally and stepped up bids for safe-haven bonds and the U.S. dollar after JPMorgan & Co reported deep losses on loans and its revenue fell short of expectations.

Results from the second-largest U.S. bank followed tepid U.S. data and a season of lackluster earnings that has kept alive worries about economic recovery in the U.S. and abroad.

New-York based JPMorgan reported a quarterly profit of 74 cents a share, a huge rise on the year earlier quarter. But its $25.2 billion revenue number was below estimates, tainting the sector that has just begun to release fourth quarter results. [nN15183524]. Its shares fell nearly 2 percent.

Equity gains earlier in the session were capped despite upbeat earnings from chipmaker Intel Corp . By midday in New York world stocks <.MIWD00000PUS> had lost 0.9 percent, retreating further from 15-month highs hit earlier in the week.

European stock markets <.FTEU3> which opened firmer on the back of Intel results reversed gains to trade down 1.1 percent. Banks bore the brunt of selling. Earlier, Japan's Nikkei index <.N225> rose about 0.7 percent.

Buoyant headline numbers for JPMorgan were overshadowed by loan losses and high bad-debt provisions.

"JPMorgan top-line results were disappointing... there were pressures on credit card lending and retail banking and it just shows the U.S. economy is far from out of the woods yet," said David Buik, partner at BGC Partners in London.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> fell 107.77 points, or 1.01 percent, to 10,602.78. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> slid 12.69 points, or 1.10 percent, to 1,135.77 and the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> declined 27.61 points, or 1.19 percent, to 2,289.13.

Intel Corp , another Dow component and the world's largest chipmaker, posted fourth-quarter results that beat Wall Street forecasts after the bell on Thursday. It gave a bullish margin outlook on higher prices and firm demand for server chips. [ID:nN13151343]

Geoff Lewis, head of investment services at JP Morgan Asset Management in Hong Kong, said corporate earnings alone will not lift markets for long.

"You still have to see continued good news on the economic front," he said. "Markets will want to see evidence of strength in private sector demand ... it's important the economy stand on its feet after the public fiscal stimulus starts to fade."

DOLLAR, YEN, BONDS GAIN

The U.S. dollar rose broadly on Friday helped by data showing a rise in manufacturing and stable consumer price inflation. Concerns about the struggling Greek economy weighed on the euro.

Analysts noted the string of reports released on Friday were mostly in line with expectations, showing some improvement in a regional manufacturing indicator and tame consumer prices. Meanwhile, a measure of U.S. consumer sentiment was little changed in early January.

The euro, under pressure from worries over the struggling Greek economy and the growing public debt burden in some euro zone economies, slid 0.87 percent to $1.4376, compared with around $1.4390 before the results and a previous session close of $1.4502.

Against a basket of major trading partners' currencies, the dollar rose 0.66 percent to 77.236 <.DXY>. It fell 0.41 percent to 90.77 yen, however.

The U.S. Labor Department report showing consumer prices rose at a slower-than-expected pace in December helped fuel gains in fixed-income assets such as U.S. Treasury securities.

Dormant inflation favors long-dated bonds because inflation erodes the value of fixed-income investments. Long maturities led the rally as dealers covered short positions after the Treasury's $13 billion 30-year bond sale on Thursday.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note declined 0.07 percentage point to 3.67 percent, the lowest level since mid-December.

(Additional reporting by Vivianne Rodrigues, Ellen Freilich and Angela Moon in New York; Editing by Andrew Hay)

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