NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks took a hit Wednesday, as weak results from Goldman Sachs pressured financial shares and weighed on the overall market."So far, earnings have gotten off to a mixed start," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial Group. "We've seen very positive results from tech giants like Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and IBM, but financial companies are still dealing with new financial regulation, weakness in the housing market and slow loan growth."
Shares of Goldman Sachs and Bank of America declined more than 4% Wednesday, while shares of Morgan Stanley and Barclays fell more than 3%.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) shed 13 points, or 0.1%, The S&P 500 (SPX) lost 13 points, or 1%, and the Nasdaq (COMP) dropped 40 points, or 1.5%. It was the biggest one-day loss for the tech-heavy index in almost two months.
Sheldon said that going forward he would not be surprised to see a modest pullback. "Historically, stocks run up into earnings season but experience some profit taking once companies start reporting," he said. Next week, more than 100 S&P 500 companies open their financial books.
But Sheldon added that any weakness in stocks will be short-term.
"As long as the direction of the economy remains on track, the outlook for markets remains positive, at least for the first half of the year," he said.
The dollar fell against the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound.
Oil for March delivery fell 50 cents to settle at $91.81 a barrel.
Gold futures for February delivery rose $2.00 to settle at $1,370.20 an ounce.
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