STOCK MARKET TODAY: U.S. Stocks Fall as Investors Digest First Bank Earnings Reports

• U.S. stocks fell on Friday as investors digested the first bank earnings reports.

• JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo all reported first-quarter results that beat expectations.

• "There seems to be a lot of persistent inflationary pressure, which is likely to continue," said Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan's chief executive.

U.S. stocks fell on Friday as investors digested the first batch of first-quarter earnings reports, which were released by major banks.

JPMorgan (JPMorgan), Wells Fargo (Wells Fargo) and Citigroup (Citigroup) announced first-quarter financial results were better than analysts expected, but the better-than-expected magnitude is not large, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo's shares fell, while Citigroup's shares rose by about half a percentage point.

Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase's chief executive officer, warned that while the stock market is in good shape and most economic indicators look favorable, there are still significant risks that could arise at any time.

"As we look to the future, we remain alert to a number of significant uncertainties. First, the global situation is troubling, with horrific wars and violence continuing to cause suffering and geopolitical tensions growing. Secondly, there appears to be a great deal of persistent inflationary pressure, which is likely to continue," Dymond said.

On the inflation front, US import prices rose for the third consecutive month in March, slightly above the consensus estimate of 0.4%. Almost all of the rise in import prices was driven by the recent surge in oil prices.

Here's what the U.S. stock indexes are doing shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Friday:

• Standard & Poor's 500indices::5168.11 points, down 0.6 per cent

• Dow Jones Industrial Average38,269.98 points, down 0.49% (-189.10 points)

• Nasdaq Resonanceindices16,304.73 points, down 0.83 percent

What else happened today?

• Oil prices jumped more than 2% following reports that Iran could launch a direct attack on Israel in the next two days.

• Apple shares could soar nearly 30% as Wall Street underestimates Apple's profitability, according to a new report from Bank of America.

• Bank of America said that firm inflation means the Fed won't cut rates for the first time until December.

Commodities, bonds and cryptocurrencies:

• West Texas Kerosene Intermediate crude jumped 2.60% to $87.23 a barrel. International benchmark Brent crude climbed 2.17% to $91.69 a barrel.

• Gold jumped 1.79% to $2,415.20 per ounce.

• The 10-year Treasury yield fell 8 basis points to 4.51%.

• Bitcoin rose 0.23% to $70,184.

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