Note: Our daily “S&P 500 Outlook, Forecast, and Trading plan for Tuesday, 04/16” will be posted around 8:30am EDT, Tuesday.

THE GIST (“THE WHAT”)

Bank earnings remains in focus with Goldman Sachs and Citigroup failing to matchup to the rosy picture painted by JP Morgan Chase & Co. last week. Pulled down by falling bank stocks, the S&P 500 index, however, held on to the psychologically important 2900 level for the second day in a row to close mostly unchanged at 2905.58, down only 1.83 points over previous session’s close.
THE DETAILS (The “How & Why”):
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. disappointed investors on missing revenue expectations for the first quarter primarily due to a decline in revenue from equity trading. Goldman Sachs fell 3.82% on missing revenue expectations despite the blue-chip bank’s efforts to diversify its revenue streams from its core investment banking activities. While Citigroup Inc. earnings matched lowered expectations, revenues were sharply lower due to slowdown in its equity trading business during the volatile first quarter.

The broader Financials sector was the biggest drag on the index, down 0.63%. M&T Bank Corp. was the other major decliner of the session, falling 2.41% on posting mixed results. Bank of America Corp and Blackrock fell 1.09% and 0.55% ahead of their earnings release tomorrow. 
The other notable decliners of the session were Real Estate, Energy and Industrials, all closing lower by 0.60%, 0.57% and 0.52%, respectively. Among the individual movers, Alliance Data Systems Corp. was the worst performer of the session, tumbling 9.34% after it announced its plan to sell its Epsilon business to Publicis Groupe SA in a $4.4 billion cash deal.
On the bright side, modest gains of 0.60% in Consumer Staples helped offset some of the day’s declines.  Health Care stocks rebounded from their recent sharp declines to close higher by 0.34%. Anthem Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc. and CVS Health Corp. reversed some of their recent sharp declines, gaining 3.97%, 3.13% and 2.67%, respectively.
Consumer Discretionary and Communication Services also added to the day’s gains, closing higher by 0.21% and 0.18%. Walt Disney Co. extended its last week’s gains, rising 1.52% on stock upgraded after the entertainment-giant unveiled its new streaming service, Disney Plus. Meanwhile, rival video-streaming giant Netflix Inc. shed another 0.65% on this news ahead of its earnings release tomorrow.