US stocks fall after weak JPMorgan earnings

US stocks fell in early trade on Friday, following European markets downward after a disappointing earnings report from Wall Street banking giant JPMorgan Chase. About 35 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 90.23 points (0.56 per cent) to 16,079.99. The broad-based S&P 500 lost 8.02 (0.44 %) at 1,825.06, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 18.70 (0.46 %) to 4,044.78. Though down, stocks rallied somewhat from session lows. The S&P 500 fell as low as 1,819.67 soon after the market opened. Dow member JPMorgan tumbled 3.5 % after first-quarter earnings of $ 5.3 billion fell 19 % from a year ago and missed expectations due to weak trading and mortgage results. The bank is often considered a bellwether for the sector, and most of the big banks report results next week. The JPMorgan disappointment kept sentiment guarded after Thursday’s rout, which saw the Nasdaq tumble 3.1 % and the other two indices also notch big drops. Equity markets in Britain, France and Germany all fell more than one per cent Friday. Wells Fargo, another banking giant, rose 0.5 % after earnings of $1.05 per share bested expectations by eight cents. The bank cited improving credit quality and higher commercial and industrial loans that offset declines in many home-lending categories. Bank of America fell 1.1 % and Citigroup lost 0.9 %. Technology stocks continued to drop, but the declines in most cases were not as severe as on Thursday, according to AFP.