Bracing for Busy Week: Bank Earnings, CPI Ahead

Published as of: October 12, 2026, 9:16 a.m. ET

1. Breadth improves but bank stocks suffer ahead of earnings: Market breadth improved last week after a long slide. By the end of Friday's trading, about 35% of S&P 500 stocks traded above their 50-day moving average, up from six-month lows near 20% recorded earlier this month. While 35% is still low historically and down from highs above 70% in August, it indicates a broader set of stocks participating in the recent rally to record highs, a healthy sign for the market. Staples and utilities stocks led last week, while previously high-flying tech fell slightly. Financials also marched higher last week but are the worst-performing sector over the last month as bank earnings loom tomorrow. Big bank stocks approach earnings mostly lower. The third quarter was riddled with tough news, including delayed initial public offerings (IPOs), bearish forecasts from banks about their own balance sheets, and the first Federal Reserve rate hike in three years. Last month, Bank of America (BAC) warned that its third-quarter investment banking revenue could slow and forecast flat trading revenue. As a sector, financials are expected to deliver only 3% annual earnings growth in the third quarter, compared with 29.6% for the S&P 500, according to FactSet.
    
2. Money market inflows hit six-year high: One impact of the rising-yield environment is renewed interest in the relative safety of cash. In the week ended October 7, investors placed a net $166.4 billion into money market funds, per a Bank of America report citing EPFR Global data. That marked the biggest single-week inflow since the early COVID days of April 2020. Bond funds took in $33.8 billion over the same week, while equity funds attracted $12.4 billion. Total money market assets have surged from roughly $5 trillion in 2023 to about $8 trillion, BofA noted. With the Federal Reserve more hawkish than expected and inflation still running above the central bank's target, the appeal of cash could continue. That said, utilities and staples—both sometimes called "bond proxies"—showed some life last week. While one week isn't a trend, if that sort of trading continues it could indicate some market participants trying to pinpoint a possible bottom in the slumping Treasury market.
    
3. Consumers' grim mood endures: Consumer sentiment remains historically weak and the length of the slump is unprecedented. The University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index for October came in at 46.3 on Friday, down from 48.1 in September, as higher prices and rising interest rates dimmed views of current economic conditions. A modest uptick in sentiment over the summer after a record-low reading in May 2026 has largely evaporated. If confirmed, October's preliminary reading would rank as the second lowest on record, behind May's, and would drag the 12-month average to 51.3, the lowest of any 12-month period in the data, which has been collected since 1978. One- and five-year inflation expectations ticked higher. A separate report Friday from the University of Michigan zeroing in on pricey fuel, noted that most consumers expect gasoline prices to continue rising over the next year, and they "appear to be skeptical about the possibility of a quick resolution to energy supply constraints." Wednesday's CPI report could help shed light on customer moods, with analysts expecting a 0.6% month-over-month rise in September headline inflation but just 0.2% in core CPI excluding food and energy.

• Salesforce (CRM) jumped 4% in early trading on an upgrade from Bank of America to a buy after previously rating it underperform. The covering analyst says large enterprises are unlikely to replace platforms that house their data, countering worries about AI replacing software.
   
• Biogen (BIIB) climbed 4% early following a JPMorgan Chase upgrade of shares to overweight from neutral, citing an increasingly compelling catalyst path and an improved long-term growth outlook.
   
• Adobe (ADBE) slid more than 2% following a downgrade to underweight from equal weight by Wells Fargo, which said third quarter results were fairly muted and more meaningful cracks are showing in the growth profile.
   
• Memory chip stocks fell this morning, with Micron (MU), SK Hynix (SKHY), and Sandisk (SNDK) all under pressure following weakness earlier today in South Korea's stock market.
   
• IonQ (IONQ) fell 3% early on a Wall Street Journal report that the quantum computing company aims to purchase privately held cybersecurity firm Elisity for up to $1.3 billion.
   
• Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T), and T-Mobile (TMUS) ranked as the worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500 Friday, all falling at least 8% after SpaceX (SPCX) said Thursday that it had reached a deal to buy cellular spectrum licenses. The move is expected to pave the way for Starlink Mobile to become a mobile carrier. SpaceX gained about 1%.
   
• Apple (AAPL) lost about 1% Friday following reports that the company told some suppliers to cut production of some parts due to soft demand for its new iPhone line.
   
• Humana (HUM) gained 12% Friday after the government upgraded its rating of the company's Medicare Advantage plans.

October 13: Expected earnings from JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C), UnitedHealth Group (UNH), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Domino's Pizza (DPZ), and existing home sales for September.

October 14: September Consumer Price Index (CPI) and core CPI, Fed Beige Book, and expected earnings from ASML (ASML), Bank of America (BAC), Morgan Stanley (MS), BlackRock (BLK), Progressive (PGR), Fastenal (FAST), and State Street Corporation (STT).

October 15: Expected earnings from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), PNC Financial Services (PNC), U.S. Bancorp (USB), and Producer Price Index for September and initial jobless claims.

October 16: Expected earnings from Travelers (TRV) and Truist (TFC), and industrial production for September.

October 19: Expected earnings from Fifth Third (FITB).