Headquartered in Buffalo, New York, M&T Bank Corp. is a bank holding company that operates branch offices in New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. The company was founded in 1856. The firm has around 22,000 employees.

The major indices are gently higher at midday, but have been moving back and forth all morning from up to down. The earnings flow continues and the range of sectors reporting is widening beyond Financial. Crude oil is down sharply from last week levels and is now at $90 per barrel. The yield on the 10-year note is at 4.29%. The volatility index, the VIX, is at 19.

Headquartered in Buffalo, New York, M&T Bank Corp. is a bank holding company that operates branch offices in New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. The company was founded in 1856. The firm has around 22,000 employees.

The earnings floodgates are now open. Last week featured reports mostly from banks. This week, the field widens as a broader grouping of sectors are represented. The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report is also out this week, offering another view of inflation. Stocks had a muted performance last week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.3%, the S&P 500 down 0.4%, and the Nasdaq shedding 0.7%. Year to date, the Dow has gained 2.7%, the S&P 500 is up 1.4%, and the Nasdaq is up 1.2%. On the earnings calendar, Netflix, 3M, U.S. Bancorp, and United Airlines report on Tuesday; Johnson & Johnson, Truist, and Halliburton on Wednesday; Procter & Gamble, General Electric, and Intel on Thursday; and SLB on Friday. In the third quarter, profits for S&P 500 companies were up a hefty 15% compared to the prior-year quarter. That followed 13% growth in 2Q EPS and 14% growth in 1Q EPS, according to LSEG I/B/E/S. For 3Q, Information Technology was the leading sector, up 31%, and Energy was at the bottom, down 2%. On the economic calendar, the PCE inflation indicator will be released on Thursday. This is a delayed report due to the government shutdown, and covers pricing trends for November. Headline PCE will compare to the September benchmark of 2.8%. Core PCE will also compare to a 2.8% result reported in September. In addition, the first revision of GDP for the third quarter is due on Thursday. Consumer sentiment data comes out on Friday. Turning to other data, the Atlanta Fed GDPNow forecast has jumped to 5.3% for the fourth quarter. The Cleveland Fed Inflation Nowcast calls for a 2.3% rate for January. That compares to the December print of 2.7%, reported last week. Mortgage rates ticked down 10 basis points last week, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now at 6.06%, according to FreddieMac. Gas prices were down two cents and now average $2.78 per gallon for regular gas. The next Federal Open Market Committee meeting is on January 28. Odds for a rate cut at this meeting are at 5%, according to the CME FedWatch rate tool. Assuming there is no cut, odds are then at 21% for a cut at the meeting on March 18. Taking a deeper dive into performance so far in 2026, a leading industrialized global stock market index, the ETF EFA, is up 3% year to date, while the leading emerging market ETF EEM is up 5%. U.S. growth stocks are down 1% year to date based on the IWF ETF, while value stocks (ETF IWD) are higher by 3%. In other asset classes for the year to date, AGG bonds are flat, gold is up 5%, crude oil is up 2%, and Bitcoin is up 9%. The U.S. dollar is up 1%, tracking DXY. The VIX Volatility Index settled Friday near 16, down from a high of 26 in late November. Turning to leading and lagging sectors so far in 2026, Materials (+6.4%), Consumer Discretionary (+4.6%), Energy (+4.3%) and Industrials (+4.4%) are the top performers in these early days. In the middle are Communication Services, (+2.0), Consumer Staples (+2.0%), Financials (+1.6%), and Healthcare (+1.6%). Sectors yet to move are Information Technology, Real Estate, and Utilities -- all flat.