S&P Global revises JPMorgan's ratings outlook to 'positive'

(Reuters) - S&P Global on Monday revised the rating outlook of JPMorgan Chase to 'positive' from 'stable', citing the strength of its sprawling lending-to-trading business that has outperformed peers.

"JPM has successfully consolidated market share across multiple loan types and services, and generated solid earnings under diverse economic conditions," it said.

JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, closed 2023 with its best-ever annual profit and forecast higher-than-expected interest income for 2024 in January, even as its fourth-quarter profit fell.

The bank's stock has climbed 17% so far this year, through previous close. The S&P 500 Banks Index, tracking a basket of large-cap bank stocks, has climbed about 14.4% over the same period.

"JPM has been able to post peer-leading industry profitability and returns, and grow its tangible book value by more than 9% annually since 2004, well ahead of peers," S&P said.

The bank is set to report first-quarter results next week alongside rivals Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup.

The upbeat outlook stands in contrast to smaller regional banks. S&P had downgraded the outlooks of a raft of regional lenders late last month, citing their commercial real estate (CRE) exposures.

(Reporting by Manya Saini and Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)