Jefferies Financial Group Inc. JEF stock was up 3.4% Wednesday, despite losses in banking-sector stocks, after the investment bank said it is seeing signs of an uptick in deal activity. “The month of June has brought green shoots in our investment banking and capital markets business and we are growing increasingly optimistic about the return to a more normal environment,” said CEO Richard Handler and President Brian Friedman in a statement included in the bank’s second-quarter earnings. “These developments include a more forward-looking attitude from our investor base and a stronger willingness from our corporate clients to engage in capital formation and other major strategic initiatives.” Late Tuesday, Jefferies reported second-quarter earnings of 5 cents a share, below the analyst consensus view of 27 cents a share, according to estimates compiled by FactSet. The bank’s second-quarter revenue of $1.04 billion was about $1.9 million below estimates. KBW analysts reiterated a market perform rating on Jefferies and said the bank missed profit expectations because of higher compensation expenses and a pre-tax loss in its merchant banking unit which “sounds likely to be more one-time in nature.” Meanwhile, the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index BKX is down 1.1%, and the SPDR S&P Bank ETF KBE is lower by 0.8%.Meanwhile, the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index BKX is down 1.1%, and the SPDR S&P Bank ETF KBE is lower by 0.8%.
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