Finance News

Bank earnings; Carillion contagion fears; Burberry drops

by Alanna Petroff   @AlannaPetroff



1. Bank earnings: Bank of America (BAC) and Goldman Sachs (GS) will report quarterly results ahead of the open.

Investors expect the two banks to report huge one-time hits to their profits because of changes to U.S. tax rules.


Goldman warned in late December that the recently approved tax law would knock $5 billion off its earnings.

Many firms are adjusting the value of so-called deferred tax assets because the corporate tax rate is going down. Some also face a one-time tax on their overseas earnings. Still, the new tax law is expected to be a boon for banks over the long term.

2. Carillion contagion fears: The collapse this week of British construction giant Carillion has raised concerns about its competitors. The company had employed 43,000 people and operated in the U.K., Canada, the Middle East and Northern Africa.

Shares in Interserve, a rival British construction and real estate firm, dropped by as much as 16% in London after the Financial Times reported that the government had set up a team to monitor its financial health. Shares quickly bounced back, however.

3. Global stock market overview: U.S. stock futures were higher after a volatile trading session on Tuesday.

European markets were mostly lower in early trade. Asian markets ended the day mixed.

4. Stock movers -- Apple, Under Armour, Burberry: Apple (AAPL) shares hit a record high on Tuesday, but were slipping in premarket trade. Under Armour (UA), which plummeted almost 9% on Tuesday, was also in the red.

Burberry (BURBY) shares lost 7% in London after the company released its latest quarterly update. Shares in the fashion firm have declined 16% since hitting a record high in November.

5. Economics: The weekly report on U.S. crude inventories will be published at 10:30 a.m. ET. U.S. crude oil futures were holding steady around $63.60 per barrel.

The Federal Reserve will release its latest Beige Book at 2:00 p.m.

6. Coming this week:

Wednesday -- Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), Alcoa (AA) earnings; Tiffany (TIF) reports holiday sales
Thursday -- Morgan Stanley (MS), IBM (IBM) earnings
Friday -- January consumer sentiment report released by the University of Michigan

CNNMoney (London)