Stocks Were Lower in Early Trading

Stocks were slightly lower in early trading on Monday, as first-quarter earnings season picks up steam. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 46.63 points, or 0.18%, to 26,365.67. The S&P 500 was down 3.54 points, or 0.12%, to 2,903.87. The Nasdaq Composite declined 8.42 points, or 0.11%, to 7,975.75.

Oil futures were under pressure Monday, after Russia’s finance minister said his country and OPEC may decide to boost output to fight for market share with the U.S. West Texas Intermediate for May delivery fell 59 cents, or 0.9%, to $63.30 a barrel. June Brent crude was off 61 cents, or 0.9%, at $70.94 a barrel.

Goldman Sachs shares fell after the bank reported mixed first-quarter financial results. Goldman reported earnings of $5.71 per share, which was better than analysts’ expectations of $4.99 per share. Revenue was softer-than-expected at $8.81 billion during the quarter.

Citigroup also beat first-quarter earnings estimates. The bank reported earnings of $1.87 per share on $18.58 billion in revenue. Analysts were expecting Citi to report earnings of $1.80 per share on $18.63 billion in revenue.