US stock indexes waver as banks fall

NEW YORK — U.S. stock indexes wavered in Monday morning trading, weighed down by losses for bank stocks.

Goldman Sachs dropped to one of the largest losses in the S&P 500 index after saying it’s off to a “muted start to the year,” though its earnings for the first quarter still beat analysts’ expectations. Citigroup also fell following its report, as banks lead off this quarter’s earnings season.

Expectations are low for the market in general, and analysts are expecting S&P 500 companies in upcoming weeks to report the first drop in earnings in nearly three years.

Still, stocks have enjoyed a hot start to the year as pessimism about the U.S. economy’s chances of avoiding recession has eased, and the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold steady on interest rates. The S&P 500 remains just 1% off its record high set in September.

Optimism has grown that the U.S. and China can resolve their trade dispute. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Saturday that the world’s two largest economies were moving closer to an agreement.

Treasury yields, which tend to move in sync with expectations for the economy, have generally risen in recent weeks.

KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 was down 0.1%, as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern time. It flipped from a small gain of 0.1% at the open to modest losses of as much as 0.2%.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 35 points, or 0.1%, to 26,377, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%.

BANKING ON MORE: Goldman Sachs reported stronger profit for the first quarter than Wall Street expected, but lighter trading activity during the first three months of the year meant that its revenue fell short of analysts’ estimates. Its shares sank 2.1%.

Citigroup also reported stronger profit for the first three months than analysts expected, but its stock slipped 0.6%.

HAULING: Waste Management jumped to one the biggest gains in the S&P 500 after it said it would buy its smaller rival, Advanced Disposal, for $3 billion. It will also assume $1.9 billion of debt in the deal.

Waste Management rose 2.1%, and Advanced Disposal surged 20.7%.

TRADE WATCH: Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings, Mnuchin said the U.S. and China held phone discussions last week. He wasn’t sure if more face-to-face meetings would be needed. Mnuchin didn’t give a timeframe for when negotiations might be wrapped up.

Mnuchin added that the proposed agreement has seven chapters and will allow both countries to set up enforcement offices to make sure the deal is followed.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Thursday that the discussions were “moving forward” and “new substantial progress” was made.

MARKETS ABROAD: Asian markets were mixed, with the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo jumping 1.4%, South Korea’s Kospi gaining 0.4% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong losing 0.3%.

European markets were listless. The French CAC 40 was virtually flat, the FTSE 100 in London was down 0.1% and Germany’s DAX was up 0.1%.

STRONG BONDS: The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held steady at 2.55%. It has been climbing since late last month, when it fell to 2.37%.

SLICKED: Oil prices gave up some of this year’s big gains. Benchmark U.S. crude slipped 50 cents to $63.39 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 42 cents to $71.13.

They both have shot up by more than 30% this year.

Stan Choe, The Associated Press