Earnings season on Wall Street is off to a solid start.

JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Citi reported higher profits Tuesday morning. Overall, trading and banking were better than a year ago but failed to live up to the booming second quarter.

Still, banks expressed cautious optimism about the U.S. economy, saying businesses and consumers are still spending and looking resilient.

Goldman and JPMorgan shares rose, helping lift the Dow industrials higher.

The Nasdaq composite, meanwhile, is slipping. Chip stocks are under pressure after comments by CXMT, one of China's biggest memory makers, sparked fears of Chinese competition.

Oil prices are retreating, but Brent crude remains around $105 a barrel as tensions persist in the Middle East.