US STOCKS-S&P 500 edges lower after mixed bank earnings, Trump comments

* Wells Fargo slides on tempered cost-cutting outlook
* Goldman Sachs rises after profit beat
* J.B. Hunt jumps after strong DCS performance
* Dow flat, S&P down 0.26%, Nasdaq dips 0.35%

(Updates to late afternoon, changes byline, adds NEW YORK to
dateline)
By April Joyner
NEW YORK, July 16 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 edged lower on
Tuesday as quarterly results from banks added to concerns about
lower interest rates dampening profits, while comments from U.S.
President Donald Trump on trade also weighed on the benchmark
index.
JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N and Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N
beat quarterly profit estimates but reported weaker net interest
income, pointing to rising deposit costs. Those results followed
Citigroup Inc's C.N results on Monday, in which the bank
reported a drop in its net interest margin. JPMorgan shares reversed course from early losses to trade
up 1.2%. Wells Fargo shares, however, slipped 3.1% as the bank
tempered its outlook for cutting costs. Wall Street's major indexes also moved lower after Trump
said there was a long way to go with China on trade and
threatened to put tariffs on another $325 billion of Chinese
goods. Stocks briefly pared losses after Federal Reserve Chair
Jerome Powell reiterated that the central bank would "act as
appropriate" to keep the U.S. economy humming, but they later
moved back to their previous levels. "In a really quiet market, a headline like this has a
magnified effect, so even if it's not something investors don't
already know, it can move the market with ease," said Michael
Antonelli, market strategist at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee of
Trump's comments.
Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.N , which also
announced results, rose 1.6%. Goldman Sachs is considered the
least rate-sensitive of the three major banks that gave
quarterly reports on Tuesday. "(The banks' results) weren't bad, but they weren't
overwhelming," said J.J. Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD
Ameritrade in Chicago.
"We're coming off five days in a row of being higher," he
added, referring to recent record highs for the S&P 500. "It's
just hard to continue that momentum."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 5.65 points, or
0.02%, to 27,364.81, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 7.93 points, or
0.26%, to 3,006.37 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
28.91 points, or 0.35%, to 8,229.27.
Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N shares slipped 1.6% after the
diversified healthcare company warned that competition from
generic and copycat drugs could impact its third-quarter
results. Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc JBHT.O jumped
5.9%, the greatest percentage gain among S&P 500 stocks, after
the trucking company posted strong quarterly performance in its
second-largest unit DCS, which provides final-mile delivery.
The rise in J.B. Hunt shares helped lift the Dow Jones
Transportation Average .DJT 1.9% and aided a 0.8% rise in
industrials .SPLRCI .
In economic news, a better-than-expected June retail sales
report pointed to strong consumer spending. The data did not
change the expectations of a rate cut this month, though it
lowered hopes of an aggressive cut. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.08-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.13-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 58 new 52-week highs and one new low; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 72 new highs and 63 new lows.