US stocks mixed as banks decline

US stocks are trading mixed in afternoon session on Wednesday as declines from financials and raw-material producers weighed.

The S&P 500 Index declined 3.34 points, or 0.25 percent, to trade at 1,310.82 at 2:20 p.m. EDT. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 23.73 points, or 0.19 percent, to trade at 12,239.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.18 percent.

JP Morgan led the financials lower after its Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon signaled that the bank will not boost dividends in the next couple of quarters.

Among financials, JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) declined 1.24 percent and Citigroup (NYSE:C) fell 1.54 percent, while Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) lost 1.63 percent.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) gained 0.23 percent and Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) advanced 0.42 percent as both companies gained shares in the U.S. online search market in March.

Earlier stocks gained as better-than-expected first quarter earnings from JP Morgan and March retail sales data buoyed sentiment.

U.S. retail sales rose slightly less than expected in March, but recorded a gain for a ninth consecutive month. Retail and food services sales in the US rose 0.4 percent to $396.3 billion in March compared with the upwardly revised figure of 1.1 percent increase in February. Core retail sales, excluding motor vehicle and parts, rose 0.8 percent compared with a 1.1 percent gain in February.

The euro declined 0.39 percent to 1.4421 against the dollar and the yen declined 0.27 percent against the greenback.

Crude oil futures gained 0.28 percent to $106.55/barrel and gold futures rose 0.13 percent.