Wall St. rests after six-day climb, but bank stocks rise

By Alison Griswold

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The broad stock market took a break on Friday after a six-day climb, although bank stocks gained slightly after strong earnings from big lenders JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

The S&P financial sector index <.spsy> advanced 0.4 percent after JPMorgan Chase & Co , the largest U.S. bank by assets, reported a 31 percent jump in quarterly profits. The stock was up 0.2 percent at $55.25. Shares of Wells Fargo, the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, jumped 1.8 percent to $42.63 after posting quarterly results that topped expectations.

Eight of the 10 S&P 500 industry sectors declined, with materials and industrial shares suffering some of the heaviest losses.

United Parcel Service slid 5.6 percent to $86.36 and was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 after the world's No.1 package delivery company estimated second-quarter profit would fall short of expectations. Rival FedEx Corp fell 2.4 percent to $101.86.

Both the Dow industrials <.dji> and the S&P 500 Index <.spx> closed at all-time highs on Thursday on reassurance from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that the U.S. central bank will keep monetary policy loose for some time.

Over the past three weeks, the benchmark S&P 500 has erased the nearly 6 percent selloff triggered by the Fed chairman in late May, when he first raised the prospect of trimming the central bank's $85 billion in monthly bond purchases.

"I think the market has reason to move higher, but it's had a substantial run now," said Warren West, principal at Greentree Brokerage Services in Philadelphia.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.dji> was down 24.19 points, or 0.16 percent, at 15,436,76. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was down 2.31 points, or 0.14 percent, at 1,672.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up just 0.41 of a point, or 0.01 percent, at 3,578.72.

The S&P 500 rose 3.8 percent over the previous six sessions. At midday, the benchmark index was up 2.5 percent for the week. The six-day run marks the longest winning streak since early March, when the S&P 500 climbed for seven straight sessions on positive data, hopes for rosy results and signals of continued economic support from the Fed.

Analysts expect S&P 500 companies' second-quarter earnings to have grown 2.8 percent from a year earlier, with revenue up 1.5 percent, data from Thomson Reuters showed.

U.S.-listed shares of Infosys jumped 5.4 percent to $46.41 after the company reported quarterly results and maintained its revenue growth forecast.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading for July on the consumer sentiment index was 83.9, down from 84.1 in June and shy of forecasts for 85.

(Reporting by Alison Griswold; Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/futures-flat-record-close-thursday-jpmorgan-profit-120731272.html

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