Investing.com – U.S. stocks closed roughly flat on Monday, weighed down by a fall in energy as oil prices plunged, keeping a lid on gains in the broader market amid mostly positive earnings from large corporates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 0.18%. The S&P 500 fell roughly 0.13%, while the Nasdaq Composite lost about 0.26%.
BlackRock and Bank of America reported second-quarter earnings beats, but investors dumped BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) stock as the bank reported a slowdown in inflows.
Yet the more-than-4% gain in Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) stock more than offset losses, driving financials to a solid gain for the day.
The upbeat performance in financials, however, were offset by a slump in the energy sector on falling oil prices. Oil prices settled lower on expectations the loss of Iranian crude from the global market would be less than many had anticipated after the U.S. said it may provide waivers to some importers of Iranian crude.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for August delivery fell 4.2% to settle at $68.08 a barrel.
Overall, 86% of companies that have reported earnings so far, have topped consensus, with profits growing by 20.1%, FactSet data showed.
Netflix kicked off earnings for blue-chip tech stocks after the bell Monday, with weaker-than-expected second-quarter results. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) will report earnings on Thursday after market close.
Tech started the week on the back foot, ending the day mostly unchanged despite a rally in shares of Amazon to a record high.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock closed 0.52% higher as the tech giant got its 'Prime Day' sale underway, a 36-hour event which traditionally bolsters sales as customers flock online to scoop up discounts.
In economic news, core retail sales rose 0.4% last month, compared with an upwardly-revised 1.4% increase for May. The Empire State manufacturing index fell 2.4 points in July to a reading of 22.6.
The data came a day ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's testimony on the economy and monetary policy before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday at 10 AM ET (14:00 GMT) in Washington, followed by the House Financial Services Committee the next day.
On the political front, a summit between US President Trump and Russian leader Putin drew little market reaction as focus was mostly centered on Russian meddling in the U.S. election.
"The Russian state has never interfered, and is not going to interfere into internal American affairs, including the election process," Putin said.
Top Gainers and Losers on Wall Street Today:
The top Dow gainers for the session: JPMorgan Chase NYSE:JPM) gained roughly 4%, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) rose 2% and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) up 1.7%.
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) down about 1.9%, Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) off 1% and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) down 1%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.