US stocks dip after bank earnings

NEW YORK, Apr 15 (AFP): Wall Street stocks declined early Monday as banking earnings kicked off a heavy week of corporate results and US economic data.
About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 26,364.76, down 0.3 percent.
The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.2 percent to 2,902.77, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.1 percent at 7,979.50.
Investors have been cautiously optimistic about the effect of first-quarter earnings on stocks. Although earnings are expected to drop from last year's level, companies may have an easy time topping the reduced expectations, analysts say.
Goldman Sachs fell 2.8 percent after reporting a 20.3 percent decline in earnings to $2.1 billion due in part to weak trading revenues.
Citigroup shed 1.3 percent after reporting a 1.9 percent increase in first-quarter profits to $4.7 billion.
Other earnings this week include Bank of America, United Continental, PepsiCo and Honeywell.
Economic releases this week include retail sales, trade and manufacturing surveys as well as home construction.