JPMorgan suspends buybacks

JPMorgan Chase & Co reported a bigger-than-expected 28 per cent fall in quarterly profit and suspended share buybacks on Thursday, as America’s largest bank set aside more money to cover potential losses in the face of growing risks of a recession.

Chief Executive Jamie Dimon stressed the need to build capital reserves, while flagging a number of concerns including the war in Ukraine, high inflation and the “never-before-seen” quantitative tightening as threats to global economic growth.

Closer home, however, the economy continues to grow and both the job market and consumer spending remain healthy, Dimon said.

JPMorgan’s shares slid more than 4 per cent as the bank recorded $1.1 billion in provision for credit losses compared with last year when it released $3 billion from its reserves.

The four biggest US banks are expected to record $3.5 billion of loss provisions for the quarter, as they brace for a sharp economic slowdown with the US Federal Reserve aggressively raising interest rates to control runaway inflation.