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A troubled outlook for U.S. debt is driving stocks sharply lower at the start of trading on Monday. This as a lackluster earnings season continues, with big-name companies like Citigroup (C) and Eli Lilly (LLY) announcing their quarterly results. Standard & Poor's cut its ratings outlook on the U.S. to negative from stable Monday morning, putting further pressure on policy makers to get the nation's fiscal house in order. The ratings agency kept the country's gold-standard Triple-A rating in place, but said the negative outlook reflected the material risk that Congress will fail to address budget concerns by 2013. Stocks are falling sharply in early trading. The S&P 500 is down 16.75 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is lower by 168 points. And the Nasdaq Composite is lower by 38 points. While the news out of S&P is the main focus of early trading, earnings season continues to garner some headlines. Financial services giant Citigroup reported a sharp decline in first-quarter profit despite lower loan-loss provisions, as revenues fell 22 percent and the company recorded a charge related to asset transfer in Special Asset Pool. Earnings beat analysts' view, but top-line results came below their forecast. First-quarter net income was $3 billion, compared with $4.43 billion a year ago. On a per-share basis, earnings were $0.10 in the first quarter. On average, 21 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.09 per share for the quarter. Shares of Citi are up 6 cents in early trading, rising to $4.48. Drug maker Eli Lilly reported a 15 percent drop in first-quarter net income, mainly reflecting an in-process research and development charge associated with diabetes collaboration with Germanpharmaceuticals firm Boehringer Ingelheim. Excluding charges, earnings beat analysts' estimates on strong overseas sales. The company also backed its full-year adjusted earnings view. For the quarter, net income at Lilly declined to $1.06 billion or $0.95 per share from $1.25 billion or $1.13 per share last year. Shares of Lilly are following the general market lower, dropping 49 cents in early trading to reach $35.52.