U.S. stocks tumble as banks lead way down

Stocks fell as weakness in shares of U.S. banks and finance firms added to the political and trade tensions weighing on the market. Treasury yields slid and oil rose for a fifth straight day, reaching its highest level since December 2014.

All major U.S. benchmarks ended lower in lighter than normal trading, with the financial sector pacing losses on a drop of more than 1.5 percent. Wells Fargo & Co. warned that its better-than-anticipated first-quarter results may change as a settlement with regulators looms, loans dropped and mortgage-banking results trailed predictions.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. posted quarterly earnings that topped analysts’ expectations, but shares of both companies plunged as JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said, “the environment is intensely competitive and lending was flat for the quarter.”

“You’re getting a very high expectation for earnings season, which makes me a little bit nervous,” said Tom Essaye, the former Merrill Lynch trader who founded market newsletter The Sevens Report. After banks reported results “and it wasn’t another positive catalyst, you just saw people come in and sell the market,” he said.

The market’s focus also is on political turmoil surrounding President Donald Trump, potential military activity in Syria and trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

“Thus far it’s really all been theater,” Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, said of the trade issues. “Where we might actually start to see it show up in the market again is if companies start talking about the effect of the tariffs on their earnings calls. I think it’s fairly likely that it will at least be mentioned. A lot of companies look for reasons to kind of dial down expectations, and this certainly is a very real one, even though it’s theoretical at the moment.”

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose but retreated from an earlier climb to a six-week high, led by raw-material producers as industrial and precious metals advanced. Aluminum headed for its biggest weekly increase since at least 1987 on concern U.S. sanctions on Russia’s United Co. Rusal will disrupt supplies.

Meanwhile, the dollar declined. Sterling climbed to the strongest level against the euro in almost a year against as investors bet on a Bank of England interest-rate hike next month, after the European Central Bank revealed a dovish slant in the account of its March meeting published Thursday.