Stock market today: Wall Street falls sharply to close out its worst week since October

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks tumbled Friday following a mixed start to earnings reporting season. Worries about potentially escalating tensions in the Middle East rattled financial markets, pushing investors to look for safer places for their money.

The S&P 500 sank 1.5% to close out its worst week since October, when a huge rally on Wall Street began. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 475 points, or 1.2%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 1.6% from its record set the day before.

JPMorgan Chase was one of the heaviest weights on the market and sank 6.5% despite reporting stronger profit for the first three months of the year than analysts expected. The nation’s largest bank gave a forecast for a key source of income this year that fell below Wall Street’s estimate, calling for only modest growth.

The pressure is always on companies to produce fatter profits. But it’s particularly acute now given worries that the other main lever that sets stock prices, interest rates, may not offer much lift in the near term.