Stocks traded flat to slightly lower after the opening bell Friday as investors weighed strong earnings from major banks and a weaker-than-expected 1% fall in March retail sales. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA fell 26 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 SPX shed 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP lost 0.4%. Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM jumped 4.9% as the banking behemoth kicked off first-quarter earnings season with better-than-expected results. Analysts said strong bank earnings might reassure the Federal Reserve it can press ahead with further rate increases as it weighs the fallout from a spate of regional bank collapses last month.
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