JP MORGAN Chase shares fell more than 4 per cent yesterday after the New York Times reported losses from a bungled credit-derivatives trade could be as much as $9 billion, much more than the bank has estimated.
Shares of the biggest U.S. bank were off $1.61 to $35.17 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange, having traded lo.
JPMorgan declined to comment on the report. On May 10th its chief executive, Jamie Dimon, pegged the loss at $2 billion and warned the figure could rise by an additional “$1 billion or more”.
He has not raised the loss estimate since, but said in a congressional hearing last week that the company would be “solidly profitable” in the current quarter.
The New York Times, citing people briefed on the situation, said losses could be significantly more than the initial $2 billion estimated as the bank has unwound positions in recent weeks.
An internal report at the bank projected in April that the losses could reach $8 billion to $9 billion, assuming worst-case conditions, the newspaper said.
Since disclosing the trading debacle, JPMorgan has said it was limiting potential losses. – (Reuters)
