benchmarks fare: What drove the market Investors are treading carefully ahead of a first-quarter earnings season that begins in earnest Friday, with reports due from two of the nation's largest banks JPMorgan Chase & Co.JPM, 4.69% and Wells Fargo & Co, according to Market Watch. WFC, -2.62% which could provide clues on the health of the U.S. economy and its banking sector. How did the benchmarks fare The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, 1.03% fell 14.11 points to 26,143.05, the S&P 500 index SPX, 0.66% edged up 0.11 point to 2,888.32, and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, 0.46% dropped 16.88 points, or 0.2%, to 7,947.36. With analysts projecting S&P 500 earnings to fall 4.2% year-over-year, market participants may be wary of making broad bets before getting a peek at first quarter results, and more important, hearing from management on their outlooks for the year ahead. Minutes from the Federal Reserve released Wednesday show that policy makers last month dropped plans for further rate increases in 2019 due to unease over the U.S. and global economies, though some members of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee didn't rule out a rate increase toward the end of the year. WFC, -2.62% Investors are also wrestling with growing signs of anemic growth throughout the world, which could deflate appetite for assets perceived as risky like stocks even as indexes hover near all-time highs.
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