U.S. stocks struggle for direction at the open as investors weigh Goldman, Morgan Stanley earnings

U.S. stocks struggled for direction at the open on Tuesday, as investors weighed earnings from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley as trading resumed following a three-day weekend honoring Martin Luther King Jr. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2% soon after the opening bell, while the S&P 500 edged up 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite was trading about flat, according to FactSet data, at last check. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley on Tuesday reported their results for the fourth quarter, with Goldman missing earnings estimates while Morgan Stanley beat analysts’ forecasts. In economic data released Tuesday, the New York Fed’s Empire State business conditions index, a gauge of manufacturing activity in the state, tumbled to the lowest level since the worst of the pandemic in 2020.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.