US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq fall on tech selloff, mixed bank earnings

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window)
* JPMorgan tops estimates, Wells Fargo swings to loss
* Delta warns air travel recovery two years away
* Technology falls the most among S&P sectors
* Indexes: Dow up 0.34%, S&P down 0.31%, Nasdaq falls 0.95%

(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
July 14 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes fell in
choppy trading on Tuesday as investors digested a mixed bag of
quarterly earnings reports from U.S. lenders, with new business
restrictions in California weighing on technology stocks.
Largest U.S. lender JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N rose 2.2% as
it posted a smaller-than-expected 51% drop in second-quarter
profit and set aside $10.5 billion to cover potential bad loans.
However, Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N tumbled 5.8% after it
posted a quarterly loss for the first time since the 2008
financial crisis. Citigroup Inc C.N was also down 0.8% as it
reported a steep drop in quarterly profit.
The losses in bank shares pushed the S&P 500 banks index
.SPXBK down 0.9%.
"We're clearly in for more volatility as earnings season is
now beginning, and these increases in the virus in California,
Texas, Tennessee and Florida are going to continue to keep
people on edge," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading
and derivatives at Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.
Wall Street has reclaimed most of its coronavirus-driven
losses since March as a raft of monetary and fiscal stimulus and
improving economic data raised hopes of a swift post-pandemic
recovery.
But a recent record surge in COVID-19 cases and new business
restrictions, particularly in California, have sparked a selloff
in tech stocks, with the Nasdaq pulling back from record highs.
Technology stocks .SPLRCT shed another 1%, leading losses
among major S&P sectors.
Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX rose for a second straight
day to its highest in two weeks.
Investors are bracing for what could be the sharpest drop in
quarterly earnings for S&P 500 firms since the 2008 financial
crisis, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
"Expectations are so low that there's a good chance there
will be a decent set of earnings reports over the next two or
three weeks," said Christopher Grisanti, chief equity strategist
at MAI Capital Management in Cleveland, Ohio.
Meanwhile, the United States on Monday rejected China's
disputed claims to offshore resources in most of the South China
Sea. The Trump administration also plans to scrap a 2013
auditing agreement that could foreshadow a broader crackdown on
U.S.-listed Chinese firms. At 10:00 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 89.57 points, or 0.34%, at 26,175.37, the S&P 500 .SPX
was down 9.80 points, or 0.31%, at 3,145.42. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 98.43 points, or 0.95%, at 10,292.41.
Delta Air Lines Inc DAL.N fell 1.2% as it warned it will
be more than two years before the industry sees a sustainable
recovery from the "staggering" impact of the coronavirus
pandemic, with demand largely tracking the curve of infections
in different places. Data on Tuesday showed U.S. consumer prices rebounded in
June after three straight monthly declines, but the underlying
trend suggested inflation would remain muted. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.02-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 1.50-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded one new 52-week high and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 18 new highs and 18 new lows.