Stocks took a breather this morning after two days of gains. Before the market open the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were all off 0.2%.
Investors expressed concern again over China, as a report from the nation’s National Bureau of Statistics showed GDP growth of 8.1% in the first quarter, below the 8.3% analysts were expecting.
Still, financials earnings season started strong with beats from both JPMorgan (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC). Â
JPMorgan said its first-quarter profit fell to $5.38 billion, or $1.31 a share, from $1.28 a share in the same period a year ago. Revenue rose 6% to $26.7 billion. Analysts were expecting the bank to earn $1.16 a share on revenue of $24.4 billion.
Wells Fargo said it earned $4.25 billion in the first quarter, or 75 cents a share, up from a year-earlier profit of 67 cents, and ahead of the consensus of 73 cents. Revenue grew 6.4% to $21.64 billion, the companyÂs highest revenue in nine quarters and better than the $20.51 billion analysts were expecting.
JPMorgan was recently up 0.9%, while Wells Fargo was off 0.1%.