Wall Street's main indexes fell on Monday, following a rally in the previous session that put the S&P 500 within striking distance of its record high, as underwhelming results from Goldman Sachs and Citigroup pressured financial stocks.

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The sector fell for the first time in four sessions, down 0.75%, dragged lower by a 3.2% tumble in Goldman Sachs Group Inc and a 0.7% dip in Citigroup Inc after the banks missed revenue estimates.

The S&P banking index fell 1.12%, also weighed down by a 1.6% drop in JPMorgan Chase. Bank of America dipped 1.4% ahead of results on Tuesday.

"With less-than-stellar Goldman results, despite the bottom-line beat, it's not necessarily surprising to see financials pulling back a little bit," said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.

"Earnings and guidance need to be better than estimates for the market strength to continue given the levels we are at now."

Monday's reports come in contrast to JPMorgan's upbeat earnings on Friday that eased worries of first-quarter earnings season slamming the brakes on Wall Street's big rally back from last year's slump.

The benchmark S&P 500 index is just about 1% away from its September record closing high.

On trade discussions, Reuters reported that U.S. negotiators have tempered demands that China curb industrial subsidies as a condition for a trade deal, while Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he hoped the talks were approaching a final lap.

At 12:09 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 86.50 points, or 0.33%, at 26,325.80. The S&P 500 was down 9.31 points, or 0.32%, at 2,898.10. The Nasdaq Composite was down 37.15 points, or 0.47%, at 7,947.02.

Of the 33 S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far, 81.8% have surpassed first-quarter earnings estimate, above the average of past four quarters, according to Refinitiv data.

Analysts expect S&P 500 companies to show a 2.1% year-on-year decline in earnings, their first annual contraction since 2016.

In a bright spot, Waste Management Inc rose 2.7% after the company said it would buy smaller rival Advanced Disposal Services Inc for about $3 billion. Advanced Disposal jumped 18.9%.

Boeing Co declined 1% as Brand consultancy firm Brand Finance said negative publicity over the grounding of the planemaker's 737 MAX jet is set to wipe $12 billion off the company's brand value.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.37-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 1.95-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 52 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 64 new highs and 29 new lows.

First Published:Apr 15, 2019 8:07 PM IST