Stocks Dipped in Early Trading as Oil Sank

U.S. stocks were lower in the early trading on Friday, as investors grappled with lower oil prices, earnings report from Citigroup Inc.and mixed economic data on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average latelt fell 6.54 points, or 0.04%, to 17,919.89. The S&P 500 was down 2.35 points, or 0.11%, to 2,080.43. The Nasdaq Composite was off 9.65 points, or l0.20%, to 4,936.24.

Oil prices erased earlier gains and moved firmly lower in Friday morning trade, after a report the Iranian oil minister won’t attend a highly anticipated meeting in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday.Crude oil lost 1.3% to $40.99 a barrel, while Brent oil dropped 0.9% to $43.46.

U.S. manufacturing output unexpectedly declined in March by the most since February 2015. The 0.3 percent drop at factories, which make up 75 percent of production, followed a revised 0.1 percent decrease the prior month, a Federal Reserve report showed Friday.

Citi (C) reported a big drop in earnings. Citi’s revenue fell 11% year-over-year to $17.6 billion. Meanwhile, net income plunged 27% to $3.5 billion or $1.10 per share. That bottom line beat the $1.05 expected by analysts.