Sprawling international banking conglomerate HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HSBC) pleased the market with its first quarterly-earnings report of 2024, although the company's CEO shocked some with a surprise resignation.

Both of these developments occurred well before market open Tuesday. Investors reacted to them by trading the company's U.S.-listed American depositary receipts (ADRs) up by more than 3.3% across the day. That contrasted well with the S 500 index's 1.3% slide.

Taking the earlier of those two big news items first, HSBC announced that CEO Noel Quinn informed the bank's board of directors that he is stepping down after a five-year stint in the position. His date of departure hasn't been set; the company said he will continue in the role while the board goes through the process of finding a successor. It said it will consider both internal candidates and outsiders for the job.

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Source Fool.com