Stocks opened in negative territory and saw their lows shortly after the open. Following a familiar script, the averages began to pare their losses and eventually crossed into positive ground. During the afternoon, the averages gained upside momentum but saw that short-circuited when the Brexit vote failed to pass. The vote caused the averages to pull back, but before turning negative they moved back to the upside. In the final hour of trading the buyers re-emerged and pushed the averages back to solid gains, snapping the market's two-day losing streak.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the Producer Prices Index fell 0.2% in December, while the core rate dipped 0.1%, both of which were a little cooler inflation readings than expected. The Empire State manufacturing index declined to 3.9 in January, well below expectations for a reading of 10.0.
In the U.K., Parliament rejected Theresa May's Brexit deal in a 432-202 vote. Jeremy Corbyn tabled a no confidence motion after the defeat, which will be debated and voted upon tomorrow at 7 p.m. London time.
COMPANY NEWS: JPMorgan (JPM) shares closed about 1% higher after the bank reported fourth quarter EPS and managed revenue that missed consensus estimates, though Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said "2018 was another strong year for JPMorgan Chase," highlighting its record revenue and net income.
Shares of Wells Fargo (WFC) fell about 1.5% after the bank reported better than expected Q4 earnings but lower than expected revenue. CEO Tim Sloan added that the bank has made "meaningful improvements" to how its manages risk across the company.
Meanwhile, UnitedHealth (UNH) shares rose 3.5% after the company reported better than expected quarterly results and maintained its adjusted earnings guidance for fiscal 2019.
Shares of Delta Air Lines (DAL) were little changed for the day after the airline operator reported better than expected Q4 earnings but gave lower than expected profit guidance for the first three months of this year.
In non-earnings news, the Associated Press reported that Netflix (NFLX) will be raising prices for all of its U.S. subscribers, with the price of the most popular plan said to be increasing to $13 from $11 per month.
Additionally, Bloomberg reported that Disney (DIS) is seeking to reach deals for the sale of the 22 regional sports networks it is acquiring from 21st Century Fox (FOXA) by the end of February.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Cardlytics (CDLX), which rose 9% after BofA Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral following the company's "positive" fourth quarter preannouncement. Also higher was First Republic (FRC), which gained 12% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was PG&E (PCG), which fell another 17.5% after Argus analyst Jacob Kilstein downgraded the stock two notches to Sell from Buy. This follows the announcement that the company will declare bankruptcy and the associated 50% plunge in the stock yesterday. Also lower was Goodyear (GT), which slid 13% after it guided for Q4 tire volumes to fall roughly 3%.
INDEXES: The Dow rose 155.75, or 0.65%, to 24,065.59 , the Nasdaq gained 117.92, or 1.71%, to 7,023.83 , and the S&P 500 advanced 27.69, or 1.07%, to 2,610.30 .
