Markets Book Profits as Q4 Earnings Season Gets Rolling

Tuesday, January 13th, 2026

Stock market activity was mostly flat today on the major indexes, with only the blue-chip Dow shedding -398 points, or -0.80%. It and the S&P 500 pulled back from all-time highs posted yesterday, partly on a -4% day for JPMorgan JPM, which could not rescue itself today with better-than-expected results in Q4 earnings and revenues. The S&P 500 finished the session -13 points, -0.19%, although Moderna’s MRNA approval of its Covid-flu hybrid vax sent shares up +17% today.

The Nasdaq and small-cap Russell 2000 were both down -0.1% on the day, booking some profits as Q4 earnings season starts to get rolling. Intel INTC performed well today, closing above +7% (it had trade up +10% earlier in the session) on continued hyperscaler demand and an upgrade to Overweight from KeyBanc. AMD AMD was another big winner today for much the same reason: the AI trade is alive and well, though perhaps in less of a scatter-shot fashion. Other AI plays were mixed today.
 

Economic Prints for New Home Sales, Budget Deficit

Whereas we saw better-than-expected Consumer Price Index (CPI) data ahead of today’s opening bell, we similarly saw improvements in other economic metrics as the day moved along. New Home Sales for October gained by more than expected — 737K seasonally adjusted, annualized units versus 710K projected and 738K a month ago — spoke to some traction in the housing market, which has been looking for it for some time. That said, this is old data, delayed by the weeks-long government shutdown.

The U.S. Budget Deficit for December slid notably from the previous report, but at -$144.7 billion it’s still an improvement from the anticipated -$150 billion. It’s the third-straight month of deficits shrinking, with last year’s low hitting a near-term low -$345K. For 2025, the deficit kept to the median rate over the last five years. Depending on what the Supreme Court decides to do regarding the White House’s tariff policy, this may be one area that sees notable improvement this year.
 

What to Expect from the Stock Market Tomorrow

Q4 earnings for the big banks continue, with Citigroup C, Bank of America BAC and Wells Fargo WFC all posting results ahead of the open. These are expected to bring earnings growth of +23%, +15.8% and +17%, respectively. All three banks currently have a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), but any of these rankings can change with a much better (or worse) earnings performance.

We don’t foresee any economic print as important as today’s CPI numbers Wednesday, but the wholesale pricing survey — the Producer Price Index (PPI) — comes out ahead of the open. This report — along with Retail Sales, also out tomorrow — is delayed due to the government shutdown, and will post November numbers, a month in arrears from CPI this morning. Included in tomorrow’s haul will be Existing Home Sales, Business Inventories and Fed’s Beige Book. 

Questions or comments about this article and/or author? Click here>>

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research