Markets Flat at Opening

Markets are flat this morning, as some early enthusiasm burned off quickly.

The retreat comes after a brief opening spurt, as the markets were spurred upward by better-than-expected first-quarter earnings from big Wall Street bank J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., another possible sign that the health of the financial sector is improving.

In the first 20 minutes of trading, the Dow is just about dead even.

The broader S&P 500 is just barely below water. The only appreciable mover this morning is the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which is up half a percent.

Elsewhere, consistently profitable Southwest Airlines swung to a first-quarter net loss as the cost of bad bets on jet fuel hedges continued to dog the company. Southwest said it would offer early-retirement packages, or "buyouts," to employees, to reduce staff costs.

-- Frank Ahrens
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