What happened to JPMorgan Chase stock? – JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPMorgan Chase Shares fell 3% this week to $239.54. The stock could fall as conflicting economic signals and heightened market volatility stoke broader investor concerns.

The decline came as wholesale inflation rose more than expected and a surge in jobless claims cast a shadow over the Fed’s path forward.

What to know: this Producer Price Index (PPI) It soared 3% year-on-year in November, beating economists’ forecasts and marking the biggest gain since February 2023. Inflation and labor weakness worries markets.

Also read: Hershey merger talks collapse: Do high cocoa prices, Mondelez buyback plan hurt deal?

For JPMorgan, these developments exacerbate existing challenges in the banking industry. As a leader among U.S. financial institutions, the company is particularly sensitive to changes in interest rate policy.

A sharp rise in PPI could force the Fed to delay or limit expected interest rate cuts, a scenario that could squeeze JPMorgan’s net interest margin, a key driver of profits.

Additionally, rising jobless claims point to potential pressure on trends in consumer spending and loan repayments, which are key to JPMorgan’s retail banking and credit portfolios. The bank is already facing margin pressure in 2024 as slowing loan growth and rising competition for deposits erode profits.

Investors remain cautious, awaiting clarity on the Fed’s policy, which could have a significant impact on JPMorgan’s performance heading into 2025.

Also read: Broadcom’s fourth-quarter results spark industry-wide surge, Nvidia, AMD, TSMC stock prices rise

How to Buy JPMorgan Chase Stock

Now you’re probably curious about how to participate in the market for JPMorgan Chase – whether that’s buying shares or trying to short the company.

Purchasing stocks is usually done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many stocks allow you to buy “fractional shares,” which means you can own a portion of a share without purchasing the entire share. For example, some stocks, like Berkshire Hathaway, can cost thousands of dollars just to own one share. However, if you only want to invest a small portion of it, the brokerage will allow you to do so.

Take JPMorgan Chase, for example, which trades at $239.79 as of press time, and $100 can buy 0.42 shares of the stock.

If you want to short a company, the process is more complicated. You need access to an options trading platform, or a broker that allows you to “short” stocks by lending them. The process for short selling a stock can be found in this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can buy a put or sell a call at a strike price higher than the stock’s current trading price—either way, you’ll profit from a drop in the stock price .

According to Benzinga Pro, JPMorgan’s 52-week high is $251.77 and its 52-week low is $161.70.