JPMorgan, Citi start earnings season strong

JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday, while Wells Fargo missed.

What happened: JPMorgan's and Citigroup's stock both gained more than 1% while Wells Fargo dropped by over 5%.

By the numbers: JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, reported earnings of $2.57 a share and revenue rose 9% to $29.2 billion. Citi reported EPS of $1.90 and revenue, net of interest expense, rose about 7% to $18.38 billion — all of which beat analysts' expectations.

• JPMorgan's big numbers were driven by an 86% surge in bond trading revenue, year over year.
• Citi saw trading revenue rise nearly 31%, with a 49% jump in fixed-income trading, though equities trading fell 23% due to weak performance in derivatives.

On the other side: Wells Fargo saw total revenue decline more than 5% to $19.9 billion. Net income took an even bigger hit, falling by more than half to $2.9 billion, down $0.60 per share.

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