Finance

In this articleGSDavid Solomon, CEO, Goldman Sachs, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 23, 2020.Adam Galacia | CNBCGoldman Sachs on Wednesday blew past analysts’ expectations with record first-quarter net profits and revenues on strong performance from the firm’s investment banking and trading businesses.The bank posted per-share earnings of $18.60, crushing the $10.22 estimate of analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. The results represented growth of 498% from a year earlier. Revenue of $17.7 billion easily topped expectations of $12.6 billion.Shares of the New York-based bank rose 1.7% following the release, which showed that Goldman’s first-quarter revenues more than doubled on a year-over-year basis.”We have been working hard alongside our clients in preparation for a world beyond the pandemic and a more stable economic environment,” CEO David Solomon said in the earnings release. “Our businesses remain very well positioned to help our clients reposition for the recovery, and that strength is reflected in the record revenues and earnings achieved this quarter.”Expectations were high for Goldman as the economic recovery and record first-quarter issuance of blank-check special purpose acquisition companies were expected to lift investment banking revenues. Earlier on Wednesday, JPMorgan Chase posted robust trading results for the first quarter and a $5.2 billion tailwind from releasing funds it had set aside for loan losses that did not materialize.Here are Goldman’s numbers:Earnings: $18.60 per share vs. $10.22 per share expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv.Revenue: $17.7 billion vs. $12.6 billion expected.Trading Revenue: Fixed Income: $3.89 billion, Equities: $3.69 billionInvestment Banking: $3.77 billionAt Goldman, the deluge of SPACs helped push investing banking net revenues to a record $3.77 billion for the quarter, including record equity underwriting. The headline investment banking revenue number exceeded the $2.9 billion estimate and represented a 73% surge from a year earlier.Financial advisory revenues totaled $1.12 billion.”The increase in Underwriting net revenues was due to significantly higher net revenues in both Equity underwriting, primarily driven by strong initial public offerings activity,” the bank said in its release. “The increase in Financial advisory net revenues reflected a significant increase in completed mergers and acquisitions transactions.”Asset management generated record quarterly net revenues of $4.61 billion, reflecting record net revenues from equity investments.”Goldman is converting mind share to market share probably better than any player” quarter over quarter and year over year, wrote Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo. “The main question is sustainability, but our view is that Goldman is in the sweet spot for a booming [investment banking]/advisory business as each company in each industry globally has a rethink of its business strategy post-pandemic.”In its Global Markets unit, traders produced a 47% bump in revenue from a year earlier to $7.58 billion. That sum was split between $3.89 billion in fixed-income trading and $3.69 billion in equities, which reflected year-over-year growth of 31% and 68%, respectively.The bank said the strong growth in fixed-income trading was thanks in part to “significantly higher” net sales in mortgages and interest rate products.Of the six biggest U.S. banks, Goldman gets the largest share of its revenue from Wall Street activities including trading and investment banking. For the past few years that has been a detriment to the firm, as retail banking fueled by cheap consumer deposits had driven the industry’s record profits.That dynamic reversed during the coronavirus pandemic, when firms with sizable consumer operations had to set aside tens of billions of dollars for anticipated loan losses, causing banks like Wells Fargo to post their first quarterly loss since the financial crisis.Goldman shares have climbed 24% this year, roughly matching the gain of the KBW Bank Index.— CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting.Enjoyed this article?For exclusive stock picks, investment ideas and CNBC global livestreamSign up for CNBC ProStart your free trial now More

In this articleJPMJPMorgan Chase on Wednesday reported profit and revenue that exceeded analysts’ expectations on robust trading results and a $5.2 billion benefit from releasing money it had previously set aside for loan losses that didn’t develop.The bank posted first-quarter profit of $14.3 billion, or $4.50 a share including a $1.28 per share benefit from the reserve release, higher than the $3.10 per share expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.Companywide revenue of $33.12 billion exceeded the $30.52 billion estimate, driven by the firm’s trading operations, which produced about $1.8 billion more revenue than expected.JPMorgan’s release of $5.2 billion in reserves is the biggest sign yet that the U.S. banking industry is now expecting to have fewer loan losses than it did last year, when it set aside tens of billions for defaults anticipated from the coronavirus pandemic. A year ago, the firm had added $6.8 billion to credit reserves.”Overall, this was a great quarter for JPMorgan,” said Octavio Marenzi, CEO of consultancy Opimas. “It is now increasingly clear that the bank over-reserved, and that money is now flowing back into its earnings, concealing some of the weakness in consumer banking.”JPMorgan shares dipped less than 1% in premarket trading.Fixed income trading produced $5.8 billion in revenue, a 15% increase that exceeded analysts’ estimates by more than $800 million, on activity in securitized products and credit markets. Equities trading revenue surged 47% to $3.3 billion, a full $1 billion more than estimates, on “strong performance across products.”JPMorgan, with the world’s biggest Wall Street bank by total revenue, was expected to benefit from robust investment banking fees driven by record issuance of special purpose acquisition companies, which saw more activity in the first quarter than all of 2020, itself a record year.That came to pass: The firm said first-quarter investment banking revenue surged 222%, or a full $2 billion, to $2.9 billion, exceeding the estimate of $2.65 billion.Most of the quarter’s reserve release came from the bank’s retail division: The firm said $3.5 billion was tied to the bank’s credit card borrowers, and another $625 million from home loan borrowers.While that meant that the firm’s consumer and community banking division saw profit surge by $6.5 billion from a year earlier, to $6.73 billion, the bank said that card and mortgage revenue was impacted by lower balances as flush consumers pay down their debts.In the release, CEO Jamie Dimon called loan demand “challenged,” but during a call with reporters Wednesday, Dimon added that the dynamic would ultimately be good for loan demand because consumers were in good shape.Dimon struck an optimistic tone for the near-term economic future in the U.S., similar to comments he made this month in his annual shareholder letter.”With all of the stimulus spending, potential infrastructure spending, continued quantitative easing, strong consumer and business balance sheets and euphoria around the potential end of the pandemic, we believe that the economy has the potential to have extremely robust, multi-year growth,” Dimon said in the release.Analysts will also be curious about the pace of share repurchases the bank is expected to make. Last month, the Federal Reserve said banks that pass the industry’s 2021 stress test at mid-year will be allowed to resume higher levels of dividend payouts and buybacks starting June 30.Shares of JPMorgan rose 21% so far this year, compared to the 25% advance of the KBW Bank Index.After JPMorgan’s earnings statement, Goldman Sachs also released first-quarter results that crushed forecasts with record first-quarter net profits and sales due to strong performance in trading and investment banking.Here are the JPMorgan numbers:Earnings: $4.50 per share vs. $3.10 per share expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv.Revenue: $33.12 billion vs. $30.52 billion expected.Enjoyed this article?For exclusive stock picks, investment ideas and CNBC global livestreamSign up for CNBC ProStart your free trial now More

Gary Gensler, then-chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThe Senate is likely to confirm Gary Gensler as the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission either Wednesday or later this week, and crypto assets — including bitcoin — are likely high on his agenda.With Democrats in control of all three major branches of government, and the SEC commissioners now with a 3-2 Democratic majority, Gensler is likely to face calls from progressives to act on several fronts, including ESG, the Gamestop fallout, the Archegos fiasco, payment for order flow, fiduciary obligations, and especially regulations around securities in the crypto space, including a bitcoin ETF.What’s likely on the top of the list?Environmental, Social and GovernancePresident Biden has pledged swift action to tackle what he calls a “climate emergency.” Acting Commissioner Allison Herren Lee has already indicated that the commission will focus on greater transparency and how corporate actions may be affecting the climate.Climate change, Herren Lee has argued, fits squarely in the SEC’s mandate of providing data for investor protection.That mandate can be fairly broad: In a recent speech, she argued that even political spending disclosure can be linked to ESG issues.Gamestop falloutThe Gamestop situation has led to numerous calls for investigations around gamification of trading, market manipulation, and whether it is feasible to move from the current two-day settlement period for stocks (T + 2) to a one-day settlement period.In a recent call with reporters, Christopher Gilkerson, Charles Schwab’s senior vice president and general counsel, said any reform initiated by Gensler “would focus on rapidly moving to T+1 settlement, better surveillance on potential market manipulation through social media and better disclosure for short sellers. And probably a focus on gamification of investing.”Pat Healy of Issuer Network, who advises companies on going public, believes that more transparency around short sales is a clear priority.”The SEC should create a minimal level of short sale disclosure,” he told me. “That would alert the market that a big fish is taking a position, which is the parallel disclosure that is done when investors take long positions. This is the only part of the market that has no disclosure requirements.”Archegos ramificationsThe recent Archegos fiasco, where a trader was able to attain massive positions in several stocks using swaps, will also likely attract Gensler’s attention, particularly since he was previously chairman of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, where he was involved in implementing rules governing the swaps market following the Great Financial Crisis in 2008-2009.The Archegos debacle caused significant losses to investors in many large companies and fits squarely in the SEC’s historic mission.During his March 2 appearance before the Senate Banking Committee, Gensler noted the SEC’s historic role in protecting investors, and he promised to continue the SEC’s goals of “strengthening transparency and accountability in our markets, so people can invest with confidence, and be protected from fraud and manipulation.”One delicate issue: Archegos was a family office that was exempt from registration with the SEC. “This guy was trading his own money,” Amy Lynch, a former SEC compliance official now with Frontline Compliance, told me.”They are likely to take a look at the whole family office structure,” she said. Not having to register “makes sense for the average family office, but in the case of Archegos there was a lack of transparency — Credit Suisse didn’t know what Morgan Stanley was doing with the transactions.”Lynch says they are likely to look at more reporting requirements around family offices, and perhaps even consider registration.Payment for order flowMany financial service firms charge nothing for commissions, but receive payment from broker-dealers to route orders to them, a process known as “payment for order flow.” Some claim receiving payment for order flow comes at the expense of best execution, but that is hotly disputed.Healy says that Gensler “will likely pay lip service to looking at payment for order flow but is unlikely to do anything about it.”The reason is that it is well-known that “the average retail investor is able to execute trades at a lower cost and with better pricing than several decades ago. The one thing that may be needed more is disclosure.”Standards of care for broker-dealersThe SEC put in place Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) last year, which established new standards of conduct for broker-dealers and requires them to recommend products that are in their customer’s best interest.The SEC is unlikely to make substantive changes in the rule, but they are likely to seek vigorous enforcement of the rule.”They will have to do more examinations to determine their actual practices are matching their disclosures,” Lynch told me.Bitcoin ETFBitcoin is a commodity that is regulated by the CFTC, but a bitcoin ETF would be a security regulated by the SEC. The SEC has consistently denied requests to create a bitcoin ETF for the last eight years, citing concerns over fraud, custody, and excessive volatility.Gensler is likely to continue to focus on the safety of those assets. Indeed, the SEC’s Examination Priorities cited digital assets and the “safety of client funds and assets” as a top priority.Still, crypto investors are optimistic about Gensler, noting that he taught blockchain and digital currencies while a professor at MIT.They also are hopeful that many of the concerns cited by the SEC are being addressed.”A few years ago there was no regulated futures market, now there is, and the volumes are much bigger,” Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise Asset Management, told me. “There were also no regulated custodians with insurance, now there is. We have made a huge amount of progress, whether we have made it over the goal line is not clear, but we are getting close.”Digital securities and assetsGiven the Coinbase direct listing and the explosion of crypto assets, many believe that Gensler’s biggest area of focus will be in the cryptoasset space.”I think digital assets will be his legacy,” said Michelle Bond, a former senior counsel at the SEC who is now CEO of the Association for Digital Asset Markets, an association of firms in the digital marketplace.”This is a global phenomenon. He is going to focus on registration of exchanges, regulation, retail protection, and he will be looking to root out fraud and manipulation,” Bond said. “This is a man who created a regulatory framework for swaps, and he has all the expertise to create a firmer regulatory framework for digital assets.”The only constraint is that the SEC’s mandate is digital asset securities.Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world. More

Here are some of the companies making headlines in premarket trading:Goldman Sachs (GS) — Goldman shares rose more than 1% in premarket trading after the company’s first-quarter results handily topped Wall Street’s expectations. The bank earned $18.60 per share, compared to the $10.22 per share expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. Revenue came in at $17.7 billion, which was ahead of the expected $12.6 billion. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) also beat top- and bottom-line estimates for the first quarter.Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) — Shares of the retailer tumbled 7% in the premarket after the company said net sales during the fourth quarter fell about 16%. During the period the company earned an adjusted 40 cents per share on $2.62 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting 31 cents per share and revenue of $2.63 billion.JetBlue Airways (JBLU) — JetBlue stock rose 3% after JPMorgan upgraded the stock to “overweight” from “underweight.” The firm expects the airline to continue to focus on cost controls in the wake of the pandemic, and noted that the current valuation is attractive. JPMorgan also upgraded Spirit Airlines (SAVE) to “overweight” from “underweight,” while lifting its rating on Southwest (LUV) to “neutral.”Moderna (MRNA) — Shares of Moderna jumped more than 3% in premarket action after the company said new data show its Covid vaccine is more than 90% effective six months after the second shot. The data was based on more than 900 cases of the virus.Occidental (OXY) — Shares of the energy company gained more than 2% in the premarket after MKM Partners upgraded the stock to a “buy” rating. “OXY has depreciated over 20% since early March (vs. XOP down 15%-20%) and reflects approximately 30% equity value upside, thus meriting an upgrade from Neutral to Buy,” the firm said in a note to clients.Discovery (DISCA) — Class A shares of the media company slid more than 4% after CNBC reported that Credit Suisse is still unloading its position in the wake of Archegos Capital Management’s blowup. According to people familiar with the matter, the bank was selling 19 million shares of Discovery’s class A stock on Tuesday.Harley-Davidson (HOG) — Shares of the motorcycle company rose more than 2% in premarket trading after Bank of America initiated coverage on the stock with a “buy” rating. The firm said the company’s new strategy is “elevating an iconic global brand.”Snap (SNAP) — The social media company’s stock was up more than 2% after Wedbush assumed coverage of the stock with an “outperform” rating. The firm said in a note that Snap is “uniquely positioned” as a video-centric platform, and sees opportunities around the company’s augmented reality and social commerce divisions.Enjoyed this article?For exclusive stock picks, investment ideas and CNBC global livestreamSign up for CNBC ProStart your free trial now More

In this articleCOINChesnot | Getty ImagesCoinbase is set to go public through a blockbuster direct listing Wednesday, and investors are hailing it as a “watershed” moment for the cryptocurrency industry.The digital currency exchange could be valued at as much as $100 billion, making it more valuable than major trading venue operators like New York Stock Exchange parent Intercontinental Exchange and Nasdaq.It comes as the prices of bitcoin and other virtual currencies have soared over the past year, as investors looked to diversify their portfolios in the belief that a spike in inflation is coming. Bitcoin hit a fresh record high of more than $64,000 on Wednesday and has more than doubled in value year-to-date.Coinbase’s public market debut is “potentially a watershed event for the crypto industry and will be something the Street will be laser focused on to gauge investor appetite,” said Dan Ives, a tech analyst at Wedbush Securities.”It’s going to legitimize a lot of what these companies are doing,” Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of London-based crypto platform Luno, said of the Coinbase debut. “For one, it’s going to show just how big the industry is and how much it’s growing.”Coinbase is the largest cryptocurrency company to go public so far. It’s the world’s second-largest digital asset exchange by trading volume, according to CoinMarketCap, and has been credited with bringing crypto into the mainstream with its easy-to-use app.But there are a number of risks ahead. Cryptocurrencies are notorious for their wildly volatile price moves, and skeptics think it may be in a massive market bubble that’s bound to burst at some point. Meanwhile, global regulators are increasingly trying to bring crypto under their oversight, with India’s government even looking to ban digital currencies.VolatilityCoinbase estimates it made $1.8 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2021, a whopping 844% increase compared to the $190.6 million it generated in the same period a year earlier. That was largely thanks to the huge jumps in price from digital coins like bitcoin and ether.Given Coinbase’s business is heavily tied to the performance of major cryptocurrencies, there’s a risk that momentum could swing the other way if there’s a significant pullback in the market.”Crypto companies will need to figure out how to diversify their revenue streams eventually,” said Hunter Merghart, a former Coinbase executive who is now head of U.S. for Luxembourg-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp.”I think right now we are still very much in the investment phase and the overall crypto pie will continue to grow.”Bitcoin notoriously rose to almost $20,000 in late 2017, before crashing to almost $3,000 the following year. This price volatility has been a key criticism from bitcoin’s detractors, who say it fails key tests for currencies, like acting as a medium of exchange or store of value.However, crypto investors believe such a precipitous price drop — known in the industry as “crypto winter” — is unlikely in the near future. They see bitcoin as a sort of “digital gold” that’s uncorrelated with other assets and can serve as a hedge against rising inflation.”There’s been many surges in the price of bitcoin over the last 10 years,” said Swanepoel. “When it does come down, it sets a new baseline and the growth continues on that new baseline.””I actually think the baseline is going to be significantly higher out of this cycle,” he added. “If you look at commodity markets, they have normal cycles and then they have ‘super cycles.’ I suspect this is a super cycle for crypto. It can accelerate a lot longer now.”RegulationEarlier this year, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned in her confirmation hearing that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are mainly used for illicit activity and that the government may need to “curtail” their use.Coinbase says it’s regulated and has partnerships with a number of banks. But it warned in its prospectus that negative changes to regulations could “adversely affect” its financial condition.Before former President Donald Trump’s term ended, the Treasury Department proposed a rule that would require financial services firms to record the identities of cryptocurrency holders. This proved controversial with many crypto firms.”Regulatory risk is high because crypto platforms are currently not subject to the same rules as traditional exchanges or trading platforms are,” said Stéphane Renevier, an analyst at financial education platform Finimize.”Some of Coinbase’s activities (such as some of its prime brokerage services and its use of its own capital to trade) might be subject to tighter regulatory oversight in the future,” he added. “Given that the regulatory landscape is evolving extremely rapidly, the company is always at risk from a change in status, which could impact some of its most profitable activities.”Jesse Powell, CEO of Coinbase rival Kraken, told CNBC that he thinks there “could be some crackdown” on cryptocurrencies.’Crypto’s tech giant’Garry Tan, founder of venture capital firm Initialized and an early investor in Coinbase, said the cryptocurrency market was still in its infancy.”We’re not there yet,” he told CNBC. “We’re still in the very early innings of that, but it’s not so crazy any more.”But Tan and other Coinbase bulls say the company has created a competitive “moat” around its business that should allow it to flourish even with the advent of new regulations.”Coinbase is like crypto’s tech giant,” Tan added. “Coinbase’s (debut), and it existing as one of the cornerstone tech companies in Silicon Valley, is very powerful because it means that, just as the personal computer revolution needed Apple and Microsoft, the crypto revolution needs Coinbase.”Crypto industry insiders say that Coinbase is just one part of the story. There are other emerging trends in the market, such as digital collector’s items and so-called decentralized finance, which aims to recreate traditional financial products without middlemen like the banks. Plus, Coinbase may face steeper competition from rivals such as Binance and Kraken, the latter of which is weighing its own share listing for next year. More

Jason Lee | ReutersBEIJING — Investors are putting billions of dollars more into U.S. stock funds than Chinese ones, according to data from fund research firm EPFR Global.”The baton seems to be getting handed over,” said Cameron Brandt, director of research at EPFR, in an interview Friday. “A lot of investors think the short term play is the U.S., where the stimulus is ramping up, versus China, where there are signals a more prudent take will be taken, especially in the second half of the year.”U.S. stocks plunged in March 2020 as worries about the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on economic growth gripped the markets. By that time, China was on its way to controlling the domestic spread of the virus and the economy returned to growth in the second quarter.Now, roughly a year out, global investors are reassessing their outlook on both countries.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsSince U.S. President Joe Biden took office in late January, the White House has launched additional stimulus of $1.9 trillion and announced a $2 trillion infrastructure spending plan. The Biden administration has also maintained a tough stance on China, which creates a political overhang for U.S. investment in Chinese assets.Interest in U.S., China funds jumpBut in a global context, U.S. and China stock funds are the two regions that have attracted the most inflows from international investors over the past two quarters, Brandt said.”Both fund groups have seen a significant jump in interest since the middle of last year,” he said. “China funds got the initial jump but U.S. came roaring back.”Net cumulative flows to U.S. stock funds since the beginning of 2020 were negative until November, according to EPFR data. The flows turned positive in the weeks following the U.S. presidential election, and reached $170 billion in the week ended April 7.In contrast, Chinese stock funds saw net positive cumulative flows for much of last year that exceeded U.S. levels — until December. Net cumulative flows to Chinese stock funds as of the week ended April 7 were just $29.78 billion, according to EPFR.The data company is a subsidiary of Informa Financial Intelligence and claims to tracks over 100,100 investment funds worldwide with more than $34 trillion in total assets.It’s not over for China inflowsWhile U.S. stocks have climbed to fresh records this year, the Shanghai composite is little changed since December. Millions of new investors piled into the mainland stock market last year amid a surge in local stocks, stirring concerns of excessive speculation.In the last several weeks, Chinese authorities have warned repeatedly of financial market risks.Analysts have said Beijing’s 6% GDP growth target for the year and other economic indicators signal that rather than focusing on high-speed growth, policymakers are intent on cracking down on long-term problems such as high reliance on debt.”We have seen flows to China funds tail off recently,” Brandt said. “It seems there’s a certain amount of skepticism even though headline growth numbers seem pretty impressive compared to everywhere else, China is still seen as vulnerable (if) monetary conditions tighten before the end of the year.”Still, he expects funds will continue buying Chinese assets given strong demand from retail investors since the middle of last year.History indicates it would take an extreme event to dent that retail interest. Brandt said the last time there was such a surge in retail buying, it didn’t end until the mainland Chinese stock market crashed in 2015.The Chinese government would also like to boost investor participation in the local stock market by making it easier for companies to go public, and encouraging foreign institutions to invest.— CNBC’s Yen Nee Lee contributed to this report. More

In this articleARKKArk Invest’s Cathie Wood said digital wallets and genomics are the next two biggest disruptive trends after Tesla and electric vehicles.”We’re very excited about digital wallets,” Wood said on CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” on Tuesday. “We really think that these digital wallets and two-sided market places, merchants and consumers…are going to usurp a lot of the role the banks play today.”Wood — CIO and CEO of Ark Investment Management — has made a name for herself by investing in “disruptive innovation” stocks. Wood’s flagship fund, ARK Innovation, has seen more than $16.7 billion flood into the fund in the past year, according to FactSet.Wood has big bets on names like Square and PayPal, which dominate the digital wallet space. Square is the second largest holding in Ark Innovation, representing more than 7% of the ETF.In China, Wood said WeChat Pay and AliPay are the major players.”It’s going digital, its going mobile. A little bank branch in you’re pocket,” said Wood. “We’re going to have all kinds of financial services available through them, including loans, debit cards, credit cards, stock buying, bitcoin buying.”Elsewhere, Wood said the genomics space is also set to hit escape velocity.”DNA sequencing is going to introduce science into healthcare decision making for the first time,” said Wood. “We can honestly say that until now more than half of all healthcare decisions were in some part made through guesses or experiences. Now we’re going to have the data.”ARK’s Genomics ETF has big bets on Exact Sciences, which makes up nearly 5% of the ETF, and Invitae. CRISPR Therapeutics is another major holding in the ETF.”We’re going to be able to cure diseases that we never thought it would be possible to cure, including cancer,” said Wood.Shares of ARK Innovation are up 2.5% this year and shares of ARK Genomic Revolution are up less than 1% in 2021.Enjoyed this article?For exclusive stock picks, investment ideas and CNBC global livestreamSign up for CNBC ProStart your free trial now More

U.S. stock futures were flat in overnight trading on Tuesday ahead of the first batch of corporate earnings.Dow futures fell 30 points. S&P 500 futures dropped 0.06% and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.06%.On Tuesday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.4% to close at a record high. Equities shrugged off the Food and Drug Administration’s request for states to pause administering Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine after six people in the U.S. developed a rare disorder involving blood clots. Moderna shares gained more than 7% on the news.After the bell on Tuesday, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said the drugmaker can deliver 10% more vaccine doses to the U.S. by the end of May than previously expected. Plus, Moderna said its Covid-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective at protecting against the virus six months after a person’s second shot.The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied more than 1% Tuesday, with Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Netflix, Microsoft and Tesla all closing higher.The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 68 points, after dropping more than 150 points earlier in the session.The Labor Department’s consumer price index came in slightly hotter than expected on Tuesday. The CPI rose 0.6% from the previous month but 2.6% from the same period a year ago. Economists polled by Dow Jones projected the headline index to rise by 0.5% month-over-month and 2.5% year-over-year.Investors are gearing up for the first wave of corporate earnings on Wednesday when JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo report before the bell. Bank stocks have risen sharply so far this year, with the KBW Bank Index easily outpacing the S&P 500. Analysts are expecting strong investment banking results but a slowdown in loan growth. Plus, loan reserve releases could spark high earnings numbers.Market participants will also be watching for the Coinbase direct listing on Wednesday. Crypto investors are hailing the company’s stock market debut as a major milestone for the industry after years of skepticism from Wall Street and regulators. The price of bitcoin surged to a fresh record high of more than $63,500 on Tuesday.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will discuss the economic recovery from the pandemic at noon on Wednesday at The Economic Club of Washington.Enjoyed this article?For exclusive stock picks, investment ideas and CNBC global livestreamSign up for CNBC ProStart your free trial now More