Wall Street slips, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup fall

Wall Street slipped, after touching record highs earlier in the day, as shares of JPMorgan Chase and those of Citigroup fell after the US banks posted quarterly earnings.

Shares of JPMorgan Chase traded 0.8 per cent weaker as of 2.35pm in New York, while those of Citigroup were 2.5 per cent lower, even as both banks beat analysts' expectations.

"The results were solid but not exceptional," Morningstar analyst Jim Sinegal said about JPMorgan Chase, according to Reuters.

Shares of Bank of America and Wells Fargo, which are both slated to report their latest earnings on Friday, also declined, down 1.4 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively.

"The risk is similar to the second quarter in that stocks are being priced for perfection," Bryan Reilly, senior investment analyst at CIBC Atlantic Trust, told Reuters. "But the strength in the global economy has accelerated and a weakening dollar should set up companies for very healthy beats in Q3."

In 2.35pm trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.08 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index inched 0.04 per cent lower. In 2.20pm trading, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index eased 0.06 per cent.

Earlier in the day the Dow touched a record high of 22,884.82, while the S&P 500 touched a record high 2,555.33 and the Nasdaq reached a record 6,613.50.

The Dow fell as declines in shares of Walt Disney and those of Nike, recently down 1.5 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively, outweighed gains in shares of Microsoft and those of United Technologies, recently up 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.

Shares of AT&T dropped, down 5.8 per cent as of 3.05pm in New York, after the owner of DirecTV said it lost 90,000 US video subscribers in the quarter.

"It should be clear that DirecTV, like all of its cable peers, is suffering from the ravages of cord-cutting," Craig Moffett, analyst at MoffettNathanson, told Reuters. "It is reasonable to expect a weak quarter for the whole pay-TV industry."

Energy stocks declined with the price of oil amid concern about increased US production at a time the world's major oil producers are trying to curb output.

In the latest US economic data, a Labour Department report showed its producer price index for final demand climbed 0.4 per cent in September, following a 0.2 per cent increase in August.

Investors will scrutinise reports on the consumer price index and retail sales, both due on Friday, to gauge the outlook for inflation and the odds of a third interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve before the end of the year.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index ended the day little changed from the previous close. France's CAC 40 Index inched 0.03 per cent lower.

Germany's DAX Index rose 0.1 per cent, while the UK's FTSE 100 Index added 0.3 per cent.