US STOCKS-S&P 500, Dow drop as big banks fall after results

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* JPMorgan dips despite posting jump in profit
* Citigroup, Wells Fargo slip after results
* Walmart drops as head of e-commerce to retire
* Retail sales fall again in December
* Indexes: Dow down 0.36%, S&P slips 0.26%, Nasdaq up 0.12%

(Updates to market open)
By Devik Jain and Medha Singh
Jan 15 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes fell on Friday
as incoming President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus plan
sparked fears of an increase in taxes, while investors parsed
quarterly reports from major U.S. lenders.
Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N , Citigroup Inc C.N
and Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N , which had seen a strong rally in
the run-up to earnings, were all down even as the banks posted
better-than-expected fourth-quarter profits. JPMorgan fell 0.6% following a seven-day winning streak that
had pushed the stock about 12% higher. The S&P 500 banks index .SPXBK shed 1.9%.
"The bank stocks have been running here for a couple of
weeks now so a lot of good news has already been priced in,"
said Dennis Dick, a trader at Bright Trading LLC in Las Vegas.
Wall Street's main indexes are set to wrap up the week
slightly lower after climbing to record highs recently, driven
by growth-sensitive cyclical stocks on bets of a hefty fiscal
package and optimism about vaccine distribution.
Six of the 11 major S&P sectors fell with energy,
financials, industrials posting the steepest declines.
Biden's stimulus package proposal, unveiled on Thursday,
includes $415 billion to accelerate the distribution of
vaccines, some $1 trillion in direct relief to households, and
roughly $440 billion for small businesses and communities
particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Some investors worried that the government will need to fund
the spending through tax hikes. "Biden's concern is not the stock market, his concern is
Main Street and that's a good thing ... but that tells you
there's going to be an increase in corporate taxes," Bright
Trading LLC's Dick said.
Meanwhile, data showed a further decline in U.S. retail
sales in December - the latest sign the economy lost
considerable speed at the end of 2020. At 9:50 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
fell 115.05 points, or 0.36%, to 30,876.47, the S&P 500 .SPX
lost 9.71 points, or 0.26%, to 3,785.83 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC gained 15.61 points, or 0.12%, to 13,128.32.
Earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to decline 9.5%
in the final quarter of 2020 from a year ago, but are expected
to rebound in 2021, with a gain of 16.4% projected for the first
quarter, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Walmart Inc WMT.N declined about 2% after Chief Executive
Officer of U.S. e-commerce Marc Lore will be stepping down from
his role at the end of the month. Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N fell 3.7% after a report said the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission launched an
investigation of the oil major, following a whistleblower's
complaint that the company overvalued a key asset in the
prolific Permian shale oil basin. Spotify Technology SA SPOT.N dropped about 2.5% after
Citigroup downgraded its shares to "sell".
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co HPE.N rose 1.2% after J.P.
Morgan upgraded the enterprise software maker's stock to
"overweight"
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.2-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.5-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 2 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 132 new highs and one new low.