Stocks open lower after Bank of America profit falls short

NEW YORK - Wall Street pulled back Monday after a weaker-than-expected profit report from Bank of America Corp. stirred concerns about the health of corporate earnings.

Bank of America's report that first-quarter earnings fell 77 percent on write-downs and widening credit losses comes after a week in which big-name companies in general turned in better-than-expected numbers for the first quarter. Wall Street has at times worried that a slowing economy and a potentially hesitant consumer would crimp profit-making in the first three months of the year.

The reports helped drive the major indexes to gains of more than 4 percent last week. Some profit-taking likely didn't come as a surprise to investors Monday.

With little in the way of economic data scheduled to arrive this week, investors are looking at a big flow of corporate reports for insights into the well-being of the economy. Beyond Bank of America Corp., Merck & Co. reported a stronger-than-expected first-quarter profit. Both Bank of America and Merck are among the 30 stocks that comprise the Dow Jones industrial average.

In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 59.35, or 0.46 percent, to 12,790.01.

Broader stock indicators also declined. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 4.99, or 0.36 percent, to 1,385.34, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 6.83, or 0.28 percent, to 2,396.14.

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