US STOCKS-Wall St falters as tech retreats, Wells Fargo slides

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* JPMorgan, Citi rise on fourth-quarter profit beat
* Wells Fargo slides as legal costs hit earnings
* Delta Air Lines gains on profit beat; peers gain
* Indexes down: Dow 0.05%, S&P 0.25%, Nasdaq 0.47%

(Updates to open)
By Sruthi Shankar
Jan 14 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks pulled back from record
levels on Tuesday, as technology stocks handed back gains made
on hopes of a preliminary U.S.-China trade deal and Wells Fargo
slid in a mixed start to big banks' quarterly earnings.
Kicking off fourth-quarter earnings season, the largest U.S.
bank JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N rose 2.1% after reporting a
better-than-expected profit as strength in its trading and
underwriting businesses offset weakness in consumer banking.
Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N dropped 2.7% after reporting a 55%
slump in profit, as it set aside $1.5 billion toward legal
expenses, while Citigroup Inc C.N rose 1.9% as it topped Wall
Street profit estimates. The S&P 500 banks index .SPXBK was up 0.7%.
Technology big guns that took Wall Street to record highs
recently - Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Apple Inc AAPL.O ,
Microsoft Corp MSFT.O , Alpahbet Inc GOOGL.O and Facebook Inc
FB.O - shed between 0.3% and 1.5%.
Analysts expect profits at S&P 500 companies to drop 0.7%
for the second consecutive quarter, according to Refinitiv IBES
data, largely due to a drag in energy and industrial earnings
that have been hit by a prolonged trade war.
China has pledged to buy nearly an additional $80 billion of
manufactured goods from the United States over the next two
years, and over $50 billion more in energy supplies, Reuters
reported, citing a source briefed on the trade deal that is
expected to be signed on Wednesday.
"Expectations are for flat to negative earnings this quarter
and I don't think there are any surprises," said Peter Cecchini,
chief market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York.
"Investors are requiring an earnings inflection next year,
and if we don't get it, that will be the catalyst for risk-off
(trading)."
At 9:59 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 13.20 points, or 0.05%, at 28,893.85, the S&P 500 .SPX
was down 8.31 points, or 0.25%, at 3,279.82 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 43.87 points, or 0.47%, at 9,230.06.
Delta Air Lines Inc DAL.N rose 4.1% after reporting a
better-than-expected quarterly profit, boosted by customers
gained from rival airlines' 737 MAX cancellations. The S&P 1500
airlines index .SPCOMAIR rose 3%. Medical device maker Boston Scientific Corp BSX.N slid
6.9% after reporting early fourth-quarter sales at the low-end
of its previous forecast.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.40-to-1
ratio on the NYSE and a 1.66-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 38 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 78 new highs and 16 new lows.