The S&P 500 spiked higher, breaking into positive ground
momentarily. A portion of that advance has been surrendered as the
index has since moved back into the red.
Spurring the initial advance was support from the financial sector.
Despite initially opening with a gain, financials had been trading
lower for much of the morning. The sector is now up 0.7%, thanks to
leadership from Citigroup (C 19.65, +1.68).
Citigroup announced earlier this morning a loss of $0.49 per share,
which is less severe than the expected loss of $0.66 per share.
Citigroup reported revenue of $18.65 billion, down 29% from the prior
year. The results included $7.2 billion of write-downs in its
securities and banking division. Write-downs were 40% lower than the
first quarter.