US stocks slide as investors assess big banks' results

Wall Street's main indexes slid for the ⁠second straight day as investors parsed results from Bank of America and Citigroup, while data for retail sales and producer prices did little to shake expectations for interest-rate cuts later this year.

Shares of Bank of America dipped 3.5% even as the lender topped quarterly profit estimates, while Wells Fargo slid 4.4% ‌after missing fourth-quarter revenue expectations.

Citigroup slipped ‌0.5% despite reporting higher revenue.


This follows JPMorgan executives warning that a proposed ceiling on credit-card interest rates could squeeze consumers and dent profitability across the financial ‌sector.

The weakness in bank stocks comes after a 25% jump over the past 12 months. The sector fell 0.4% on the day.

"Banks have had a very strong start to the year and markets are taking a little time to digest" the results, said Jake Johnston, deputy CIO, Advisors Asset Management.

"We're seeing slight misses on some of the estimates, but these stocks had strong run-up into these reports, and it's not unusual to see a little bit of a pullback."

Analysts project S&P 500 companies will deliver average fourth-quarter earnings growth of 8.8% year-on-year, lifting full-year ‌2025 bottom-line expansion ‍to 13.2%, according to IBES LSEG data.

At 9:34 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell ‍83.68 points, or 0.17%, to 49,108.31, the S&P 500 lost 30.26 points, or ‌0.43%, to 6,933.48 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 158.76 points, or 0.68%, to 23,548.45.

Rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court are due on Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET (1500 GMT), with major disputes pending such as the legality of President Donald Trump's global tariffs.

ECONOMIC DATA IN FOCUS

Producer prices in the U.S. matched forecasts in November, but retail sales topped expectations, following data a day earlier showing December consumer prices rose as projected.

For now, interest rates are widely expected to hold steady through the first half of the year, including at the Fed's January meeting, as long ‍as inflation and growth remain on track. Traders, however, are still pricing in at least two cuts before year-end, according to LSEG data.

Remarks from Fed voting members John Williams, Anna Paulson, and Stephen ‍Miran were also ⁠expected during the day.

The stock ⁠market's record rally is also showing early signs of broadening out this year, with S&P 400 midcaps and S&P 600 smallcaps outperforming the largecap S&P 500 so far this year.

The energy index continued to climb for the second consecutive day, up nearly 1%, on persistent supply disruption concerns in Iran, while the consumer discretionary sector fell 1%.

Netflix firmed 0.5% after a source told Reuters the streaming giant was preparing an all-cash bid for Warner Bros Discovery's studios and streaming assets.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.17-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, while declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.18-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 28 new highs and 29 new lows.