New York, January 14, 2026, 17:04 EST — After-hours update
- The Dow slipped modestly, dragged down by weakness in tech and financial shares.
- Bank shares remained under pressure as investors absorbed earnings from Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citigroup.
- Traders are turning their focus to Goldman Sachs earnings on Thursday and a postponed inflation report due next week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 42.36 points, or 0.09%, closing at 49,149.63 on Wednesday. It pared back a sharper drop from earlier but still ended down for the second day in a row. The S&P 500 lost 0.53%, while the Nasdaq tumbled 1.00% as investors favored safer sectors. 1
Wall Street is entering earnings season on the heels of record closing highs, but policy risks have crept back into the picture. The Dow and the S&P 500 notched new closing records Monday, despite investors largely brushing off renewed concerns about the Federal Reserve’s independence. 2
Financial stocks have taken a hit following President Donald Trump’s suggestion to cap credit-card interest rates at 10% for one year. The proposal knocked Visa down 4.5% and weighed on JPMorgan on Tuesday. “Financials are getting hit by Trump’s credit-card proposal,” said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder. 3
Wells Fargo shares dropped 4.6% following a fourth-quarter profit miss and a 2026 interest-income forecast that fell slightly short of analyst expectations. A filing revealed the bank took a $612 million hit in severance expenses linked to CEO Charlie Scharf’s restructuring efforts. 4
Bank of America topped fourth-quarter profit forecasts thanks to a surge in trading and record net interest income — the difference between what it earns on loans and pays on deposits. Still, the stock pulled back as investors took profits. “These stocks had a strong run up into these reports, and it’s not unusual to see a little bit of a pullback,” said Jake Johnston, deputy chief investment officer at Advisors Asset Management. 5
Citigroup beat estimates, boosted by a surge in dealmaking late last year, yet its shares slipped after the bank pushed forward with restructuring and signaled more layoffs. CEO Jane Fraser told staff in an internal note, “The bar is raised,” while the bank flagged additional headcount cuts. 6
Data is coming in unevenly after the 43-day federal shutdown forced agencies to scramble. Retail sales climbed 0.6% in November, beating expectations, driven by a rebound in vehicle purchases and continued spending from higher-income households, Reuters reported. Michael Pearce, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, warned, “The net impact of tax cuts, spending cuts and tariffs will be negative for the real incomes of the lowest-income households.” 7
The Labor Department reported that producer prices in November rose 0.2%, in line with forecasts, driven largely by gasoline costs. The delayed figures also revealed some firms are cushioning tariff impacts by narrowing trade margins—a key factor investors are tracking to gauge how swiftly import costs are passed on. 8
Tech weighed on the market once more, dragging the Nasdaq down the most. Shares of Broadcom, VMware-related firms, and several cybersecurity companies fell after Reuters reported that Chinese regulators instructed local businesses to halt the use of cybersecurity software from about a dozen U.S. and Israeli vendors, citing national security concerns. 9
Energy stocks and other defensive sectors limited the Dow’s losses. Exxon Mobil and Chevron climbed as oil prices strengthened amid worries about Iran. At the same time, buyers showed increased interest in smaller firms, with the Russell 2000 leading the way. 10
The downside risk remains clear: policy headlines can still trigger significant market moves. Reuters’ data analysis this week highlighted ongoing inflation pressures, notably a spike in food prices, and cautioned that the Fed’s favored inflation measure might appear stronger once lagging data is released. 11
Traders will be focused on Goldman Sachs’ premarket earnings on Thursday, looking for clues on deal activity and trading revenue. Investors also have their eyes on January 22, when the delayed Personal Income and Outlays report is due — this includes the PCE price index that the Fed monitors — just days before the central bank’s policy meeting on January 27-28. 12
