* Eight of 10 sectors finish negative as rally fades late
* Financials higher ahead of bank earnings
* Norfolk Southern shares fall as Canadian Pacific drops bid
* Indexes fall: Dow 0.12 pct, S&P 0.27 pct, Nasdaq 0.36 pct
(Adds Alcoa earnings in paragraph 4)
By Lewis Krauskopf
April 11 (Reuters) - Wall Street closed slightly lower on
Monday, with gains in materials and banks countered by declines
in consumer staples shares, as investors girded for the start of
an earnings season expected to be gloomy.
Equities gave up gains late in the day with the three major
indexes finishing in negative territory after posting losses
last week.
Investors were looking for cues from the first-quarter
earnings season, beginning with Alcoa's report after the
bell.
The metals company reported a lower quarterly profit, with
results hurt by low alumina and aluminum prices, and its shares
fell more than 2 percent in extended trading.
Profits at S&P 500 companies are expected to have fallen 7.7
percent in the first quarter, according to Thomson Reuters
I/B/E/S.
"This is just all jitters and anticipation of the beginning
of earnings season," said Jonathan Corpina, senior managing
partner with Meridian Equity Partners in New York. "The
expectations aren't that high for earnings this quarter, so I
think investors are starting to feel a little uneasy about
that."
A rocky start of the year was followed by a sharp rebound
since mid-February and stocks are now little changed for 2016.
Financial shares, the worst performing group this
year, were among the leaders on Monday. JPMorgan,
Citigroup and Bank of America all gained ahead of
their quarterly reports later this week.
"I don't really read too much into the action today because
I just think people are waiting to see what the earnings outlook
is, particularly with the banks," said Walter Todd, chief
investment officer at Greenwood Capital Associates in Greenwood,
South Carolina.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 20.55 points,
or 0.12 percent, to 17,556.41, the S&P 500 lost 5.61
points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,041.99 and the Nasdaq Composite
dropped 17.29 points, or 0.36 percent, to 4,833.40.
Of the 10 S&P sectors, only financials and materials closed
higher.
Norfolk Southern shares fell 2.7 percent to $79.28
after Canadian Pacific said it was giving up on its $28
billion bid to buy the railroad.
National Oilwell Varco dropped 6.1 percent to $27.32
after the oilfield equipment maker said it would cut its
quarterly dividend.
About 6.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges,
below the 7 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days,
according to Thomson Reuters data.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
1,801 to 1,224, for a 1.47-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the
Nasdaq, 1,437 issues fell and 1,388 advanced for a 1.04-to-1
ratio favoring decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 21 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the
Nasdaq recorded 38 new highs and 28 new lows.
(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf in New York; additional reporting
by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Nick Zieminski
and Meredith Mazzilli)
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