NEW YORK, April 14 — Wall Street stocks were mixed this morning as investors weighed cooling retail sales figures alongside stronger-than-anticipated corporate data.
US retail sales fell one percent in March as the Federal Reserve's series of interest rate hikes ripple through the world's biggest economy, while analysts warn that the full impact of last month's banking sector turmoil is yet to come.
A key issue that analysts are eyeing is that banks could tighten lending standards, lessening credit availability to households and hitting consumer spending.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up 0.1 percent to 34,048.97 and the S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to 4,152.62 around 10 minutes into trading.
But the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.1 percent to 12,158.72.
Today, major US banks also reported higher profits despite recent upheaval in the sector, with JPMorgan Chase reporting a jump in first-quarter profits.
But it also warned of a potential economic downturn as it added $1.1 billion in reserves in case of bad loans.
JPMorgan's results were boosted by much higher net interest income, as it benefited from a rising interest rate environment enabling it to charge more for loans. — AFP
