Financials

Prospects for higher dividends at HSBC dimmed on Tuesday after Europe's biggest bank reported a 14 percent drop in quarterly profit and flat capital reserves.

MasterCard, operator of the world's second-largest payments network, reported a slightly better-than-expected quarterly profit as customers spent more using its cards.

Barclays reported a worse than expected 33 percent slump in pretax profits for the first three months of the year, as the lender followed its U.S. peers in reporting falling investment banking revenues in a weak global market environment.

Investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners is in merger discussions with Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. in a deal that would reflect the dire conditions on Wall Street particularly among medium-sized banks, and the potential for new restructuring business arising from the shakeout in the U.S. energy industry, the FOX Business Network has learned.

The developing markets have been falling behind developed stocks for the past few years, but as once outperforming plays grow long in the tooth, investors are taking a second look at the more cheaply valued emerging market exchange traded funds.

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American Express reported a rise in quarterly revenue for the first time in five quarters, helped by higher spending by card members in the United States, its biggest market.

A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday upheld the convictions of five former employees of Bernard Madoff's firm who prosecutors said helped their boss conceal his multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme for years.

Privately held outdoors retailer Bass Pro Shops has partnered with Goldman Sachs Group Inc's private equity arm to make an offer for U.S. hunting and fishing store chain Cabela's Inc, people familiar with the matter said.

Goldman Sachs' profit slumped for the fourth straight quarter as market volatility hit the company's bond trading and investment banking businesses.

Consumers are getting cocky when it comes to taking on debt, creating a new wall of worry for economic experts.

Kyle Bass, the famed hedge fund manager, who successfully called the subprime crisis in 2008 before it nearly destroyed the U.S. financial system, is climbing a new wall of worry; Asia’s impact on the U.S.

Morgan Stanley reported a 1Q profit of $0.55 per share, topping the estimate for $0.46. Revenue for the bank came in at $7.8 billion, just short of the estimate for $7.86 billion

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American Express is moving forward with job cuts and restructuring plans.

Citigroup reported 1Q profit of $1.10 per share on an adjusted basis, topping the estimate for $1.03. Revenue came in at $17.6 billion The estimate was for $17.47 billion.

Wall Street inched higher in muted trading on Thursday, propped up by financial stocks, as investors turn their focus on corporate earnings season.

Among the companies with shares expected to trade actively in Thursday's session are Bank of America Corp., Valeant and PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

Wells Fargo reported a 7 percent fall in quarterly profit as it set aside more than $1 billion to cover bad loans, saying its energy portfolio remained under "significant stress."

Bank of America, the No. 2 U.S. bank by assets, reported an 18 percent slide in quarterly profit on Thursday as its trading business was hit by concerns about a global economic slowdown and uncertainty about U.S. interest rates.