(CNBC) U.S. stocks declined sharply for a second session Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite sliding below 4,000 for the first time in two months, after JPMorgan Chase posted disappointing earnings and Gap reported a decline in sales.
“There’s a lot of uneasiness about how far and fast the market ran last year, so any piece of news, even a single earnings report, can have a contagion effect,” said Dorothy Weaver, co-founder of Collins Capital.
JPMorgan Chase led declines on the S&P 500 after the bank posted first-quarter earnings below expectations. Gap also fell after the retailer reported a drop in same-store sales, with Janney Capital Markets downgrading its shares to neutral from buy. Wells Fargo, however, reported a better-than-projected rise in first-quarter net profit as the mortgage lender set aside less money to cover bad loans.
