JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported a year-over-year increase in third-quarter earnings per share to $2.34. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. also grew its third-quarter EPS to $2.82.

Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc. are also expected to report quarterly results before markets open today.

Participants in Fidelity Investments' 401(k) plan sued the Boston-based asset manager for allegedly making profits at the expense of its employees by loading its nearly $15 billion retirement plan exclusively with Fidelity-affiliated investments. The defendants were aware that their conduct is unlawful, since they settled a similar lawsuit in 2014, the lawsuit alleged. FMR LLC, its subsidiaries and its affiliates collectively do business as Fidelity Investments.

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp. has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Nomura Holdings Inc. as lead underwriters for its roughly $27 billion initial public offering, sources for Bloomberg News say.

Goldman Sachs Group plans to open a new office in Milton Keynes, U.K., that will serve as a customer care center for its digital bank, Marcus, Reuters reports, citing a spokesman for the bank. The office, Goldman's first U.K. office outside London, will house 150 employees and has the capacity to expand up to 250. It will open in summer 2019, according to the report.

Fifth Third Bancorp's institutional investment management unit, Cincinnati, Ohio-based ClearArc Capital Inc., is shutting down some of its investment strategies due to lack of adequate critical mass, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports, citing bank spokeswoman Shandi Huber. ClearArc Capital is winding down its Core Plus Fixed Income and Strategic Income Plus strategies and will only manage traditional fixed income investments and short-term fixed income investments, according to the report. ClearArc managed $8.1 billion in assets as of year-end 2017 and $7.6 billion as of June 30.

In M&A news, Billings, Mont.-based First Interstate BancSystem Inc. is acquiring Idaho Independent Bank for $181.3 million and Post Falls, Idaho-based Community 1st Bank for $21.5 million in two separate deals. The transactions are expected to close in the first half of 2019.

The National Credit Union Administration's board is expected to consider, among other things, a final rule governing risk-based capital at its Oct. 18 meeting, according to the agenda released by the federal agency. In August, the NCUA proposed changes to the rule that would delay its implementation by one year as well as raise the asset threshold of credit unions that would be impacted by the rule to $500 million from $100 million.

And Securities and Exchange Commissioner Robert Jackson Jr. has called for the creation of an "Office of Anti-Trust Economics" within the regulator's Division of Economic and Risk Analysis to help promote competition and prevent concentration of power in financial markets.

In other parts of the world

Asia-Pacific: MUFG Bank seeks higher Vietinbank stake; Japanese firm eyes North America

Europe: Man Group plans new holding company; Banca Carige may seek business combinations

Middle East & Africa: Fitch downgrades Zambia; US regulator fines Mashreqbank over compliance issues

Now featured on S&P Global Market Intelligence

Possible ITG deal would mark Virtu's next act in global trading expansion: Virtu Financial may be nearing a deal to acquire agency brokerage Investment Technology Group, but analysts are worried ITG's institutional customers may not be too keen on teaming up with a high-frequency market maker.

The day ahead

Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, the Hang Seng climbed 2.12% to 25,801.49, and the Nikkei 225 increased 0.46% to 22,694.66.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.86% to 7,066.94, and the Euronext 100 was up 0.55% to 995.60.

On the macro front

The import and export prices report, the consumer sentiment report and the Baker-Hughes Rig Count report are due out today.

Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open.

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