NEW YORK, April 19 — Wall Street stocks were lower early today to open a heavy week of earnings that includes reports from major technology giants, consumer products companies and airlines.

Both the Dow and S&P 500 pulled back from Friday’s records as investors mull whether the market has much higher to go after a heady run in early 2021.

Earnings have generally outperformed expectations in the early going, but analysts say stocks may have difficulty climbing further. This week’s calendar includes Netflix, Intel, Procter & Gamble and American Airlines.

About 35 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5 per cent at 34,031.27.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.4 per cent to 4,169.08, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 0.5 per cent to 13,979.38.

Among individual companies, Tesla fell 4.3 per cent following a crash in Texas that police said almost certainly had no one behind the wheel. The incident raised fresh questions about Tesla’s "Autopilot” technology.

GameStop jumped 7.7 per cent as it announced that George Sherman will step down as chief executive by the end of July, the latest announcement as videogame retailer revamps itself. — AFP