Stocks Opened Modestly Lower after Bank Earnings

U.S. stocks opened modestly lower on Thursday as investors digested the first reads of the third-quarter earnings season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately lost 31.00 points, or 0.14%, to 22,841.89. The S&P 500 was down 5.01 points, or 0.20%, to 2,550.23. The Nasdaq Composite shed 8.87 points, or 0.13%, to 6,594.68.

Oil prices slipped on Thursday as U.S. fuel inventories rose despite efforts by OPEC to cut production. Brent crude was down 0.4% to $56.71 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate futures fell 0.7% to $50.95 a barrel.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. said its third-quarter profit rose 7.1% as a boost from lending offset weaker trading results for the nation’s biggest bank by assets. The bank reported a profit of $6.73 billion, or $1.76 a share. That compares with a profit of $6.29 billion, or $1.58 a share, in the same period of 2016. Revenue rose 2.7% to $26.2 billion.

Citigroup Inc’s quarterly profit and revenue beat Wall Street expectations as the bank kept a tight lid on costs, booked a gain from an asset sale and saw strength in equity underwriting. The bank said total revenue rose about 2 percent to $18.17 billion. Net income rose 7.6 percent to $4.13 billion in the third quarter ended Sept. 30. Earnings per share rose about 15 percent to $1.42.

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) said that it plans to hire 120,000 people for the holiday season. Jobs will be added at its 75 fulfillment centers across the U.S.