Surprise: Analysts expect banks to be one of the brighter areas of the stock market during an overall dismal earnings season.
As second-quarter earnings season begins, recent economic news has been good and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.85% and S&P 500 index SPX, +0.23% are near recent records. But what had been steady and significant earnings growth has slowed or even reversed. Large U.S. banks, buttressed by strong credit quality, plenty of excess capital and a more friendly regulatory environment, are expected to buck this trend when they begin reporting July 16.
