Analyst on market reaction to bank earnings: We're in a stock-pickers market

Goldman Sachs surprised investors after reporting disappointing first-quarter earnings, a rare occurrence for a bank that normally beats Wall Street projections and estimates.

Meanwhile, JP Morgan and Bank of America posted strong earnings for the quarter, leaving investors wondering whether Goldman's disappointing results could mean anything for financials long term.

BMO Capital Markets chief investment strategist Brian Belski emphasized the importance of a stock-picking market.

"We learned today that stock picking matters. Because, again, look at what happened to Goldman and then look what happened with Bank of America and Citigroup, right?" Belski told CNBC's "Power Lunch" on Tuesday. "We're in a stock-pickers market, so you have to be in the right areas."

Belski said there's a variety of factors contributing to market volatility.

"There's a tug of war going on with respect to fundamental analysis, macroanalysis, policy analysis and clearly geopolitical," Belski said. "And until the end of the day, until we start to see some things happen in Washington and until we see real earnings hit these companies, we're going to have this volatility."

But Lindsey Group chief market analyst Peter Boockvar said despite the interesting context surrounding the post-election rally and quarter, there's another reason earnings are slowing down.

"The fundamental basis of banking, of taking deposits and lending them out, is slowing down, and I think that's going to be the bottom-line driver for the banking sector at least for the next couple of quarters," Boockvar said. "It's clear that the economy remains extremely mediocre, and now we're seeing signs of parts of the economy rolling over, particularly the auto sector, at the same time the Fed is raising interest rates."

Watch: Market down over 100 points today