Stocks traded lower on Friday. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Alcoa led the session in declines. Brands dipped amid less-than-stellar quarterly details from JPMorgan Chase. The bank reported first-quarter earnings of $5.38 billion, or $1.31 a share, down from $5.55 billion a year ago. Meanwhile, consumer prices edged up in March. The consumer price index rose 0.3%, which was in line with consensus expectations and slightly down from the previous month’s pace. Additionally, the core CPI rose by 0.2%. Consumer confidence took a breather this month. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell from 76.2 to 75.7, half the drop that was expected. Looking ahead to next week, earnings are set for release from such companies as Citigroup, Johnson & Johnson, Bank of America and General Electric.
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