American stock indices head south

On Monday, American stock indexes dropped notwithstanding the positive start to the corporate reporting season for the first quarter. Nevertheless, following the results of the whole the previous week, the indicators increased. For example, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained by 1.8%, Standard & Poor's 500 rallied by up to 2%, while Nasdaq Composite jumped by approximately 2.8%.

Market participants expect that the financial statements of companies for the first quarter are going to become a bright spot against the background of increased geopolitical tensions. Nevertheless, the events around Syria, as well as the trade dispute between America and China remain in the focus of the market's attention and have rather a negative impact on investor sentiment.

According to Chief Investment Officer of the Commonwealth Financial Network, Brad Macmillan expectations about the upcoming reporting season are too high, which could cause a decline in the market.

The index of consumer confidence in the US dived to 97.8 points in April versus March’ level of 101.4 points, which is the maximum level for 14 years, according to preliminary data from the University of Michigan, released on Friday. The consensus forecast of experts suggested a dive to 101 points.

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dived by about 0.5% and ended up with 24360.14.

Standard & Poor's 500 went down by approximately 0.29% hitting 2656.3.

Nasdaq Composite went down about 0.47% and accounted for 7106.65.

The financial sub-index of the S&P 500 demonstrated the worst dive among the eleven industry groups – it headed south by 1.6%.

Additionally, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup as well as Wells Fargo inched down by 2.7%, 1.6% and 3.4% respectively, notwithstanding good results. All three banks stepped up their net revenue in the first quarter, with the figures surpassing the average market estimates.