Wall Street pulls back from its records as JPMorgan Chase and Delta kick off earnings season

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street pulled back from its records on Tuesday following a mixed start to the latest profit reporting season for big U.S. companies.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2% from its all-time high set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 398 points, or 0.8%, from its own record, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%.

U.S. companies are under pressure to deliver strong growth in profits to justify the runs to records their stock prices have made. Analysts expect companies in the S&P 500 index will deliver earnings per share for the final three months of 2025 that are 8.3% higher than a year earlier, according to FactSet.

JPMorgan Chase helped kick off the latest reporting season by delivering weaker profit and revenue than analysts expected. Its stock fell 4.2% and was one of the heaviest weights on the market.

The shortfall may have been because some analysts hadn’t updated their estimates to account for an earnings hit resulting from the bank’s purchase of the Apple Card credit card portfolio. CEO Jamie Dimon sounded relatively optimistic about the U.S. economy, saying “consumers continue to spend, and businesses generally remain healthy.”

Delta Air Lines lost 2.4% despite reporting a stronger profit than analysts expected. Its revenue came up short of Wall Street’s expectations, as did the midpoint of its forecasted range for profit in 2026.

Chipotle Mexican Grill sank 2.3% after saying it’s looking for a new chief marketing officer, a move that surprised analysts.

On the winning side of Wall Street were several health care companies that raised their financial forecasts at an industry conference with analysts.

Moderna jumped 17.1% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after saying it expects to report revenue for 2025 that’s above the midpoint of the range it had forecast in November. It also offered updates on several products, including a seasonal flu vaccine that could see potential approvals beginning later this year.

Revvity rose 6% after the life sciences company said it expects to report profit for 2025 that’s above the top end of the forecasted range it had earlier given. Its forecast for revenue in the fourth quarter also topped analysts’ expectations.

Cardinal Health added 2.8% after saying it expects to earn at least $10 in adjusted earnings per share in its fiscal 2026 year, up from its prior forecasted range of $9.65 to $9.85.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 13.53 points to 6,963.74. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 398.21 to 49,191.99, and the Nasdaq composite sank 24.03 to 23,709.87.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after a highly anticipated update on inflation came in close to economists’ expectations. The data strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate at least twice in 2026 to shore up the job market.

Lower interest rates could make borrowing cheaper for U.S. households and boost prices for investments, but they could also worsen inflation at the same time. Tuesday’s report showed that U.S. consumers paid prices last month for gasoline, food and other costs of living that were 2.7% higher overall than a year earlier. That’s a touch worse than economists expected and above the Fed’s 2% target for inflation.

But, in a more encouraging sign, an important underlying trend of inflation wasn’t as bad last month as economists expected. That could give the Fed more leeway to lower interest rates later.

“We’ve seen this movie before—inflation isn’t reheating, but it remains above target,” according to Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

The data helped the 10-year Treasury ease to 4.17% from 4.19% late Monday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do, inched down to 3.52% from 3.54%.

A day earlier, Treasury yields swung amid worries about the Federal Reserve’s worsening feud with President Donald Trump. The concern is that the president’s attacks on the Fed could result in a central bank that’s more subservient to the White House. Experts say that in turn could lead to higher inflation over the long term.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe and Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 soared 3.1% for one of the world’s biggest moves and set a record, thanks in part to strength for technology-related stocks.

Investors expect Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office in October, to try to capitalize on her relatively high popularity and call a snap election, hoping to strengthen her mandate for higher government spending.

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.

Trader Robert Finnerty Jr., foreground, works with colleagues on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Sal Suarino works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Meric Greenbaum works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A pair of traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A dealer walks near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Tokyo. (Kyodo News via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The head of Iran’s judiciary signaled Wednesday there would be fast trials and executions ahead for those detained in nationwide protests despite a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump.

The comments from Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei come as activists had warned hangings of those detained could come soon. Already, a bloody security force crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,571, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. That figure dwarfs the death toll from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Trump repeatedly has warned that the United States may take military action over the killing of peaceful protesters, just months after it bombed Iranian nuclear sites during a 12-day war launched by Israel against the Islamic Republic in June.

Meanwhile Wednesday, Iran held a mass funeral of some 100 security force members killed in the demonstrations after authorities earlier said it would be 300. Tens of thousands of mourners attended, holding Iranian flags and photos of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The caskets, covered in Iranian flags, stood stacked at least three high. Red and white roses and framed photographs of people who were killed covered them.

People elsewhere remained fearful in the streets. Plainclothes security forces still milled around some neighborhoods, though anti-riot police and members of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard's all-volunteer Basij force appeared to have been sent back to their barracks.

“We are very frightened because of these sounds (of gunfire) and protests,” said one mother of two children shopping for fruits and vegetables Wednesday, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. “We have heard many are killed and many are injured. Now peace has been restored but schools are closed and I’m scared to send my children to school again.”

Ahmadreza Tavakoli, 36, told The Associated Press he witnessed one demonstration in Tehran and was shocked by the use of firearms by authorities.

“People were out to express themselves and protest, but quickly it turned into a war zone,” Tavakoli said. “The people do not have guns. Only the security forces have guns.”

Mohseni-Ejei made the comment in a video shared by Iranian state television online.

“If we want to do a job, we should do it now. If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly,” he said. “If it becomes late, two months, three months later, it doesn’t have the same effect. If we want to do something, we have to do that fast.”

His comments stand as a direct challenge to Trump, who warned Iran about executions an interview with CBS aired Tuesday.

“We will take very strong action,” Trump said. “If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action.”

“We don’t want to see what’s happening in Iran happen. And you know, if they want to have protests, that’s one thing, when they start killing thousands of people, and now you’re telling me about hanging — we’ll see how that works out for them. It’s not going to work out good.”

One Arab Gulf diplomat told the AP that major Mideast governments had been discouraging the Trump administration from launching a war now with Iran, fearing “unprecedented consequences” for the region that could explode into a “full-blown war.” The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to journalists.

Meanwhile, activists said Wednesday that Starlink was offering free service in Iran. The satellite internet service has been key in getting around an internet shutdown launched by the theocracy on Jan. 8. Iran began allowing people to call out internationally on Tuesday via their mobile phones, but calls from people outside the country into Iran remain blocked.

“We can confirm that the free subscription for Starlink terminals is fully functional,” said Mehdi Yahyanejad, a Los Angeles-based activist who has helped get the units into Iran. “We tested it using a newly activated Starlink terminal inside Iran.”

Starlink itself did not immediately acknowledge the decision.

Security service personnel also apparently were searching for Starlink dishes, as people in northern Tehran reported authorities raiding apartment buildings with satellite dishes. While satellite television dishes are illegal, many in the capital have them in homes, and officials broadly had given up on enforcing the law in recent years.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency said 2,403 of the dead were protesters and 147 were government-affiliated. Twelve children were killed, along with nine civilians it said were not taking part in protests. More than 18,100 people have been detained, the group said.

Gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult, and the AP has been unable to independently assess the toll given the communications being disrupted in the country.

Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.

FILE - This frame grab from footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world, in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP, File)

FILE - In this photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in a ceremony to mark the Shiite holiday of Eid al-Ghadir, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP, File)