Why the Dow Soared Today

Well it's about time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) , finally shook off six days of losses to surge over 200 points on the day. Today's gain came despite disappointing consumer confidence data, and reports that showed China's GDP grew at 7.6% last quarter, its sixth straight quarter of slowing growth.

Here's how the three major U.S. indexes reacted to the news today.

Why did markets shoot up despite two seemingly bearish economic reports? In a word: earnings. JPMorgan soared 6% on the day after reporting earnings that beat expectations. The so-called London whale's losses were booked at $4.4 billion, and will likely get significantly worse before it's all said and done. But JPMorgan made up for it with gains from selling securities, some accounting quirks, and reducing loan loss reserves to beat expectations. Fellow bank Wells Fargo continues to dominate the mortgage market, and also reported a solid quarter, with its stock jumping 3.2% on the day. The great day for these two banks helped Bank of America surge 4.6%, as well. Check out the video below for more on what drove the Dow, and what to watch for from next week's earnings.

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The article Why the Dow Soared Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Brendan Byrnes owns shares of Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool owns shares of JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Cummins and Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days.

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