US stocks tread water ahead of earnings

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks were flat early Monday ahead of key economic and earnings reports, even as shares of General Electric and Tesla both tumbled.

Key economic reports this week include retail sales for September and earnings from large banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.

Investor optimism about the upcoming earnings season and the prospects of a US tax cut under President Donald Trump has repeatedly lifted stocks to records over the last two weeks.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down slightly at 22,767.55.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.1 percent to 2,547.64, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose a bit to 6,592.58.

General Electric fell 1.8 percent as it announced that it added Ed Garden of the activist fund Trian Fund Management to its board of directors and named Jamie Miller as chief financial officer, replacing Jeffrey Bornstein, who is retiring.

The moves are among the first steps by new chief executive John Flannery to try to turn around the industrial giant.

Tesla Motors dropped 1.9 percent after announcing late Friday that it is delaying the planned launch of its electric transport truck. The news comes as the electric car maker also contends with production challenges that have slowed output of its hotly anticipated Model 3 sedan.

Analysts were expecting low trading volumes Monday due to the Columbus Day holiday.