US open: Stocks trade lower as Q3 bank earnings roll in

dl exchange place wall st street pl new york city nyc ny nyse stock exchange dow jones sp nasdaq finance dollar dollars us usa united states of america — Exchange PlaceSharecast photo / Josh White

Wall Street stocks were in the red early on Friday as market participants digested earnings from a number of the nation's biggest names in banking.

As of 1520 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.39% at 29,920.35, while the S&P 500 was 1.02% weaker at 3,632.58 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 1.37% softer at 10,503.21.

The Dow opened 118.37 points lower on Friday, taking a bite out of gains recorded in the previous session.

Friday's primary focus will be US retail sales data, which were flat in September as inflation and rising interest rates dented demand, according to the Commerce Department. Economists had been expecting retail sales to edge up 0.2%, following an upwardly-revised 0.4% jump in August. Excluding autos, gasoline, building materials, and food services, control group sales rose 0.4% last month. This was ahead of consensus expectations for a 0.3% increase.

Also on the macro front, business inventories increased 0.80% month-on-month in August, according to the Census Bureau, up to $2.45bn from July's revised print of $2.43bn.

Elsewhere, a preliminary reading of the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index showed a 2% month-on-month uptick to 59.8 in October, up from 58.6 in September but down from 71.7 in October 2021.

In the corporate space, Citigroup reported a drop in third-quarter profit on Friday as its investment banking business was hit by a lower appetite for M&A, while banking giant Morgan Stanley delivered quarterly earnings that fell short of expectations due to tumbling investment banking revenues.

Still on banks, JPMorgan Chase posted a 17% decline in third-quarter profit on Friday as it took credit-loss provisions of $1.5bn and Wells Fargo posted a drop in quarterly earnings as its efforts to build up reserves cut into profits.

On another note, US grocery chain Kroger has agreed to buy rival Albertsons in a $24.6bn deal. Under the terms of the agreement, Kroger will buy all of the outstanding shares of Albertsons common and preferred stock for $34.10 per share.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $526.15 3.18%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $112.82 3.15%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $34.14 1.45%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $36.74 0.95%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $146.42 0.67%
Boeing Co. (BA) $133.24 0.64%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $132.84 0.42%
Visa Inc. (V) $185.32 0.36%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $92.77 0.30%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $55.99 0.21%