Stocks Ended Lower as Earnings Season Kicked Off

U.S. stocks ended moderately lower on Monday, as fourth-quarter earnings season got under way. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 86.11 points, 0.36%, to 23,909.84. The S&P 500 slipped 13.65 points, or 0.53%, to 2,582.61. The Nasdaq Composite retreated 65.56 points, or 0.94%, to 6,905.92.

Oil futures on Monday fell for a second straight session. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery fell by $1.08, or 2.1%, to settle at $50.51 a barrel. March Brent crude fell $1.49, or 2.5%, to $58.99 a barrel.

Investors are awaiting quarterly results from about three dozen S&P 500 companies this week, with big banks including JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS), as well as other major names including Delta Air Lines (DAL) and Netflix (NFLX) set to report.