Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq trade mixed as earnings season kicks off Grace O'Donnell · Editor, Special Projects Updated Tue, October 13, 2026 at 10:52 AM EDT 1 min read ^IXIC -0.35% ^DJI -0.30% ^GSPC -0.23% 005930.KS -7.39% SKHY -4.70% US stocks were mixed on Tuesday as crosscurrents from bank earnings, a chip sell-off, and volatile oil prices clouded the market outlook.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose by 0.7%, led by a 5% gain in UnitedHealth (UNH), while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell by 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) declined by 0.4% as tech stocks continued to drag.
South Korea's KOSPI (^KS11) index fell more than 5%, weighed down by declines in memory stocks Samsung (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS), deepening a broader sell-off in the chip sector. The pullback came after Chinese memory maker CXMT (688825.SS) announced progress on a more efficient design.
Adding to angst, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan likened investors speculating on AI to "a casino" on Monday. "A lot of investors have no clue what they are investing in," the chipmaker's CEO said.
Attention also turned toward big bank earnings, which mark the unofficial start of the third quarter earnings season. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) reported weaker-than-expected profits, while Goldman Sachs (GS) saw third quarter profits rise 29% from a year earlier.
Oil prices fell on Tuesday after Brent crude (BZ=F) topped $105 per barrel and gasoline prices tied 2022 for the most days above $4 per gallon in a single year.
Existing home sales are the primary data point to watch on Tuesday's economic calendar. But the main event will be inflation data later this week.
Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO David Solomon pushed back against reports that his bank is preparing for a leadership change, saying there is no succession transition or timeline underway at the storied Wall Street bank.
"I just want to be clear," Solomon told analysts in Goldman's third quarter earnings call.
"There is no succession transition or timeline underway at Goldman Sachs. The board and I are singularly focused on our strategy to grow the firm and continue to serve our clients with excellence," he added.
Solomon was responding to a question from Evercore analyst Glenn Schorr, who inquired whether recent reports suggest a faster succession transition than was historically typical at Goldman.
"Some of the articles ... create noise," Solomon said. "I'm really enjoying the job," he added.
Solomon's comments come about two weeks after the Wall Street Journal reported that Goldman's board discussed a plan for Solomon to step down as CEO as soon as the end of 2027 or in 2028 to make way for his longtime top deputy, chief operating officer John Waldron.
His comments did not explicitly deny that Goldman's board had discussed a potential succession timeline, only that one was currently underway.
Three of America's biggest banks reported third quarter results on Wednesday, signaling fresh evidence that the US economy is holding up despite higher interest rates.
US consumer and business clients remained relatively resilient in the face of higher borrowing costs, with results from JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Citigroup (C) showing spending and lending continued to grow from a year ago while loan losses have remained largely contained.
JPMorgan's average credit card loans rose 7% from a year earlier, with card charge-offs falling from 2.91% from 3.15%. Consumer loan balances at Wells Fargo rose 4%, with the credit card charge-off rate falling to 3.73% from 4.02%.
Citigroup reported US card spending rose 11% over the same period, while charge-offs improved to a rate of 3.6%, down from 4.0% a year earlier.
"Our data shows that our consumer and business customers are doing well," Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf said Tuesday. "Consumers are spending more, loan delinquencies are low, and deposit and investment balances have grown."
Scharf said AI infrastructure investment, high employment and wage growth continue to outweigh the risks from higher rates, oil prices and inflation.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon struck a more cautious tone, warning on a call with reporters that another percentage point rise in interest rates could be particularly painful as borrowers refinance debts at higher costs and credit spreads widen.
And despite relatively healthy credit conditions, both Citi and Wells Fargo increased their total provisions for potential loan losses.
The major averages were mixed on Tuesday as chip stocks sold off and major banks kicked off earnings season.
Shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) rose after the bank reported another quarter of rising profits on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs (GS) saw profits surge 29% year over year during its latest quarter.
Meanwhile, Wells Fargo (WFC) shares were little changed after the bank reported better-than-expected earnings.
Chip stocks sold off after the South Korean stock market tanked amid growing concerns about valuations and competition from China.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) executives said on a call with reporters that Wall Street dealmaking remains resilient despite market volatility and higher borrowing costs, which slowed activity in the final weeks of the third quarter.
"I would lean more on the side of delayed rather than canceled," JPMorgan CFO Jeremy Barnum told reporters Tuesday when asked whether dealmaking momentum would pick back up in the fourth quarter.
Barnum said the bank experienced a slowdown during the second half of September as market volatility complicated transactions and widened the gap between what buyers and sellers were willing to accept.
"Fundamentally, the pipeline is robust," Barnum said. "There's a lot of deals. There are a lot of deals that need to get done that want to get done."
The comments come after JPMorgan reported investment banking fees of $3 billion, up 14% from a year earlier, though down 8% from the second quarter.
Barnum cautioned that it remains unclear whether dealmaking activity will accelerate in the fourth quarter.
Other major Wall Street banks also reported a slowdown in investment banking revenue from the second quarter despite continued growth from a year earlier.
Several other major corporations reported quarterly results on Tuesday morning, alongside JPMorgan Chase (JPM) (see blog below). Here's what we've heard so far:
Goldman Sachs (GS): Profits surged 29% as its Wall Street trading and dealmaking businesses continued to deliver solid results. The stock popped over 4% in premarket trading.
Wells Fargo (WFC): Reported better-than-expected earnings. The consumer bank's credit loss provisions and net charge-offs were also better than expected as CEO Charles Scharf said, "consumer and business customers are doing well."
UnitedHealth Group (UNH): Raised its 2026 profit forecast and reported improved margins in its Optum clinical care unit. The stock is up 3%.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): Beat earnings estimates and raised its full-year guidance, but the stock was down on weaker-than-expected sales in its medical device business. Pharmaceutical sales remained strong, however.
Follow along with live earnings results >
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) reported another quarter of rising profits on Tuesday even as revenues from some of its biggest Wall Street businesses retreated after a standout second quarter.
The nation's largest bank said profits rose 6% from the third quarter a year ago to $15.3 billion, or $5.57 per share, falling short of the $5.90 per share that analysts forecast. Net revenue rose 8% to $50.2 billion compared to $46.4 billion in the third quarter of last year.
Excluding $658 million in paper securities losses, the bank earned $5.75 per share.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned that "large fiscal deficits, sticky inflation, elevated asset prices, rising interest rates and geopolitical conditions continue to shift under the surface" despite the US economy's strength powered by strong business investment and a consumer that keeps spending.
"These forces may be manageable, but we remain prepared for a wide range of outcomes," Dimon said.
Yahoo Finance's Hamza Shaban writes in today's Morning Brief:
The stock market is an expectations game. But when they keep rising, the goalposts can move so far that even powerful tech earnings can trigger a sell-off.
This is a key risk to consider as we head into another earnings season, where AI spending and returns on investment will be top of mind and a key takeaway will be how much further companies have to extend their beats to even move the needle.
After two quarters of big, positive surprises — and index gains to show for it — healthy earnings beats have become the status quo, according to Bank of America strategist Savita Subramanian, in a note on Monday. What investors are really looking for is whether the growth can be sustained in 2027.
"Ultimately, index [earnings per share] remains highly dependent on the durability of the AI capex cycle and successful monetization," she wrote.
Economic data: NFIB small business optimism, September (98 expected, 98.7 prior); ADP weekly employment change, week ended Sept. 26 (+23,750 prior); Existing home sales, month-on-month, September (-0.8% expected, -2% prior)
Earnings calendar: JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), UnitedHealth (UNH), Goldman Sachs (GS), Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C), Domino's Pizza (DPZ), Albertson's (ACI)
Catch up on some top stories from overnight:
Trump says meeting North Korea's Kim Jong Un 'would be exciting.'
Microsoft cuts purchases of carbon removals by 80%
United Airlines may be deploying Starlink faster than Delta realizes
Trump's diesel deal irks allies and is unlikely to reduce prices
IMF cites AI slowdown, spiking yields as looming global market risks
Trump's spree of new project announcements mirrors the run-up to the 2018 midterms
Shares of Micron (MU) and SK Hynix (SKHY) are poised to open lower on Tuesday, extending a global sell-off in memory-chip stocks as South Korea's benchmark KOSPI (^KS11I) tanked 6%.
In South Korea, SK Hynix (000660.KS) and Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) each fell roughly 8%, extending their losing streaks to five sessions. The two chipmakers account for more than half of the South Korean stock market's total capitalization.
The sell-off was a continuation of market reaction after Chinese memory maker CXMT (688825.SS) announced progress on a new memory-cell design engineered to pack more storage into less physical space.
CXMT aims to introduce a new server memory product built on this architecture by the end of 2026.
