Stocks Get A Boost From Banks; Fiserv Acquires First Data In $22B Deal

Bank rally drives stocks higher

NEW YORK - Banks surged Wednesday following strong results from a slew of financial companies, and U.S. stock indexes finished broadly higher. Concerns about trade tensions between the U.S. and China derailed a bigger gain.

Financial and investment companies surged as fourth-quarter reports from Wall Street continued to roll in. Goldman Sachs' stock had its best day in 10 years, and Bank of America its best in seven. Banks were some of the chief beneficiaries of the corporate tax cut that took effect at the end of 2017, which fattened their balance sheets, but their stocks endured a rough year in 2018.

Willie Delwiche, an investment strategist at Baird, said it will be a good sign for the stock market and the economy if banks continue to report strong results and their stocks keep rallying.

"That to me is a signal that the economy ... is maybe on firmer footing," he said. "The important takeaway from earnings season will not be what companies had to say about the fourth quarter as much as it will be the commentary, not just for the current quarter but for 2019 overall."

Report: Sears to stay with Lampert

NEW YORK - Sears will live on - at least for now.

Its chairman and biggest shareholder, Eddie Lampert, won tentative approval for a $5 billion plan to keep the ailing, 132-year-old department-store chain in business, fending off demands from creditors that it throw in the towel, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday.

Lampert, a hedge fund owner who steered Sears Holdings into bankruptcy protection in October, is aiming to keep open roughly 400 stores and preserve tens of thousands of jobs.

Fed: Firms fretting over uncertainty

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve says business contacts in many regions of the country expressed less optimism amid a host of adverse developments, from plunging stock prices to uncertainty about a widening trade war.

In its latest report on economic conditions around the country, the Fed says that eight of its 12 regions reported the economy was expanding at a moderate pace as the new year began.

While the outlook remained generally positive, the report says that business executives had grown more worried about "increased financial market volatility, rising short-term interest rates, falling energy prices and elevated trade and political uncertainty."

The report, known as the "Beige Book," says a few districts experienced a slowdown in economic activity.

First Data sale creates fintech giant

NEW YORK - Fiserv is buying First Data in a $22 billion all-stock deal, creating a giant player in the payments and financial technology sector.

Fiserv, based in Brookfield, Wis., specializes in financial services technology related to electronic payments and processing. First Data, based in New York, says it facilitates $2.4 trillion in transactions each year.

The deal was approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close in the second half of the year, pending regulatory approval.

Another key exec is leaving Snap

SAN FRANCISCO - Snap Inc. said its chief financial officer is leaving, the second to do so in the past year.

In a regulatory filing Tuesday, the company said Tim Stone is leaving to pursue other opportunities. He had joined the Santa Monica, Calif.-based company just eight months ago after two decades at Amazon.com.

A number of top executives have left the company in recent months and a redesign of the platform has been heavily criticized by users.

United Air's profit beats forecasts

CHICAGO - United Airlines executives say business travelers are booking flights at a faster clip than a year ago.

The airline said Wednesday that business-travel bookings in the first week of January rose 11 percent from a year ago. On top of its quarterly earnings that beat expectations.

CEO Oscar Munoz says the partial government shutdown isn't having a major impact, but the airline is watching the situation closely. United says occasional long security lines haven't caused it to delay flights. Government screeners, who aren't getting paychecks, have been calling in sick at higher rates.

United reported Tuesday it earned $462 million in the fourth quarter, down 20 percent from a year earlier but better than analysts expected.