NEW YORK, Jan 16, 2026, 19:18 EST — After-hours
Shares of Citigroup Inc ticked up 0.5% to close at $118.06 on Friday, then hovered around $118.12 in after-hours trading. During the session, the stock swung between $117.00 and $119.35, according to Investing.com data. (Investing)
Wall Street closed out a volatile week with all three major indexes slipping, while the S&P 500 financial sector posted its steepest weekly drop since October. The market will be closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Earnings season kicks off next week, spotlighting Netflix, Johnson & Johnson, and Intel. “Most investors will take that as a win,” said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial, after the S&P 500 hovered near 7,000 early in the year. (Reuters)
Banks face renewed pressure from policy moves. The White House is considering an executive order to implement President Donald Trump’s proposal to cap credit card interest rates, Bloomberg News reported Friday, citing insiders. Officials are still hammering out details with the industry and lawmakers, the report added. (Reuters)
Despite lingering concerns, deal chatter is picking up. Morgan Stanley CFO Sharon Yeshaya told Reuters the bank is seeing an “accelerating pipeline” in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and initial public offerings (IPOs). Reuters also reported Citigroup pulled in record M&A advisory revenue in 2025. Portfolio manager Macrae Sykes at Gabelli Funds expects 2026 to be “a very strong year” for IPO activity and announced M&A. (Reuters)
Citi’s quarterly update earlier this week gave both bulls and bears fresh fuel. The bank posted a fourth-quarter net income of $2.5 billion on $19.9 billion in revenue. Included in those results was a $1.2 billion loss linked to an accounting move tied to its plan to sell AO Citibank in Russia. CEO Jane Fraser noted Citi returned more than $17 billion in capital to shareholders in 2025 and closed the year with a 13.2% common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio, a critical gauge of bank capital. (Citi)
Investment banking stood out in the latest results. Citi’s fees jumped 35% to $1.29 billion, according to Reuters. Fraser told analysts the bank is “actively looking at selling some additional smaller stakes” ahead of a Banamex IPO. After the earnings release, Fraser warned employees that automation and AI tools will reshape jobs and lead to more headcount cuts, Reuters reported. (Reuters)
Yet the stock remains vulnerable to policy risks. A strict limit on credit-card rates would squeeze interest income, likely forcing lenders to tighten credit or hike fees and rewards—moves that don’t bode well for growth. Plus, a quieter deal calendar will challenge whether Citi’s advisory rebound can sustain itself in a market that can shift abruptly.
U.S. markets are closed Monday, so Citi’s shares face their next challenge when trading resumes Tuesday, as investors watch for any concrete moves on the rate-cap discussion. The bank has its first-quarter 2026 earnings call set for April 14, followed by an investor day on May 7. (Citi)
