US stock markets fall after poor results from big banks

Bangalore: U.S. stock markets fell on Monday, weighed down by losses in financial stocks as earnings from big Wall Street banks Goldman Sachs and Citigroup failed to impress.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc fell 2.6%, while Citigroup Inc fell 1%. Both banks beat quarterly earnings estimates but fell short of revenue.

The financial sector fell 0.48% and the S&P banking index fell 0.66%.

“People are kind of looking for direction,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.

“We have a lot of earnings reports, including from banks, and they are important because they should tell us something about the state of the economy.”

Monday’s results follow upbeat results from JPMorgan Chase on Friday, which eased concerns that the first-quarter earnings season could halt Wall Street’s big recovery from last year’s crisis.

The benchmark S&P 500 index is currently within one percent of its record high set in September.

On a bright note, the health care sector rose 0.2%, bouncing back from a rough week led by more than 1% gains in UnitedHealth Group Inc, CVS Health Corp and Anthem Inc.

On trade, Reuters reported that U.S. negotiators had eased demands for China to cut industrial subsidies as a condition for a deal, while Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed hope that talks were nearing the final stage.

At 10:01 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 38.21 points, or 0.14%, at 26,374.09. The S&P 500 Index fell 3.06 points, or 0.11%, to 2,904.35, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 9.48 points, or 0.12%, to 7,974.68.

Of the 29 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far, 79.3% beat first-quarter earnings estimates, above the average over the last four quarters, according to Refinitiv data.

Analysts expect S&P 500 companies to post a 2.3% year-over-year decline in profits, the first annual decline since 2016.

Among other stocks, Waste Management Inc rose 2.2% after the company said it would buy smaller rival Advanced Disposal Services Inc for about $3 billion.

Boeing Co fell 0.7% after U.S. President Donald Trump in a tweet urged the planemaker to fix and “rebrand” its troubled jet. Consulting firm Brand Finance said negative publicity over the grounding of its 737 MAX jet could wipe $12 billion off the company’s brand value.

Nike Inc rose 0.7% after longtime brand ambassador Tiger Woods won the Masters title, ending an 11-year title drought.

Declining issues outnumbered buyers, resulting in a ratio of 1.08 to 1 on the NYSE and 1.22 to 1 on the Nasdaq.

The S&P recorded 48 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 56 new highs and 19 new lows.