The Dow Jones index gave up 0.53%, the Nasdaq, with a strong technological color, dropped 0.52%, and the S&P 500 0.29% around 14:40 GMT.
The day before, the indices had concluded in the green, supported by a new sign of weakening US inflation.
The Dow Jones had gained 1.14% to 34,029.69 points, the Nasdaq had climbed 1.99% to 12,166.27 points and the S&P 500, the highest since February, had advanced 1.33% to 4,146.22 points.
Several major US banks unveiled Friday comfortable results for the first quarter thanks in particular to the rise in interest rates, seeming to have been barely affected by the turmoil that shook the world of finance in early March.
But at the same time, a 1% decline in retail sales in March -- more than expected -- --, dampened investor enthusiasm somewhat.
"Retail sales were weak and disappointing in March," mainly due to lower gasoline costs but also a decline in auto sales, said Chris Low of FHN Financial.
Another index showed mixed activity for March, that of industrial production.
It rose to +0.4%, better than expected, but it was only thanks to heating demand that boosted the public services production index while that of manufacturing production fell by 0.5%.
Finally, at 14:00 GMT, the University of Michigan released its first estimate of US consumer confidence for April.
This improved to 63.5 points (+2.4%), to the surprise of analysts.
However, consumer expectations for the evolution of inflation have worsened. They now see the price increase reaching 4.6% this year while they had hoped for 3.6% last month.
This pessimism of Americans could therefore invite them to consume less in the future, which worried investors and immediately pushed stock market indices into the red.
In terms of banking results, JPMorgan Chase posted record revenue in the first quarter thanks to rising interest rates and saw its net profit jump.
The stock of the largest U.S. bank by asset size - which has however cautiously set aside an additional $ 1.1 billion to deal with possible unpaid bills of its customers--, climbed 7% around 14:20 GMT.
Citigroup was up almost 3% after reporting better-than-expected first-quarter results, also benefiting from more expensive interest rates.
Well Fargo oscillated between green and red at -0.48% after better than expected results.
The health insurance group United Health saw its stock fall by 2.63% despite an increase in its revenue and net earnings per share in the first quarter.
Elsewhere on the stock exchange, the aircraft manufacturer Boeing, compressed the Dow Jones, dropping 6.85%.
The aircraft manufacturer warned Thursday that deliveries of its flagship aircraft, the medium-haul 737 MAX, would be temporarily disrupted for quality problems on parts supplied by Spirit Aerosystems. The supplier's stock fell 20%.
© 2023 AFP