* JPMorgan profit fuels optimism about earnings
* Midcap index rises to new intraday high
* Bank stock indices signal possible resistance
* Intel falls despite strong quarter, outlook
* Indexes up: Dow 0.47 pct, S&P 0.63 pct Nasdaq 0.55 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Updates to afternoon, changes byline)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Optimism about corporate
earnings, bolstered by JPMorgan, lifted U.S. stocks on Friday
and set the S&P 500 on the path for seven straight weeks of
gains.
The S&P Midcap 400 index broke its all-time intraday
record, rising 0.6 percent to 929.58. The index includes
companies ranging from $750 million to $3.3 billion in size.
"On balance, with supporting prices and in spite of mixed
economic data, there is expectation of a strong earnings
season," said Jim Awad, managing director at Zephyr Management
in New York.
However, banks, which have led the S&P 500's gains so far
this year, face strong technical resistance as three major
indexes -- the KBW bank index <.BKX>, the S&P financial sector
<.GSPF> and the Select Sector SPDR financial ETF <XLF.P> --
approach multimonth highs reached last April.
"If we don't take a break before breaking the April highs,
we're going to be extended and overbought, so it will be a
dangerous breakout," said John Schlitz, chief U.S. market
technician at Instinet in New York.
"Are we close to a breakout or resistance? I'd probably
caution towards the latter," he said.
He said the S&P's closing in on its seventh week of gains
is a warning sign for declines, which are historically not
uncommon in the second half of January. The last time the
benchmark rose eight or more weeks in a row was a nine-week run
between November 2003 and January 2004.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> gained 55.70
points, or 0.47 percent, to 11,787.60. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> rose 8.05 points, or 0.63 percent, to
1,291.81. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> added 15.11
points, or 0.55 percent, to 2,750.40.
JPMorgan <JPM.N> shares added 3.3 percent to $45.93 after
reporting stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings. Its
stock has risen 8.3 percent so far this year. [].
The KBW bank index <.BKX> rose 2.5 percent to 54.83, near a
strong resistance area between 57 and 59.
Strength in banking stocks helped offset U.S. government
data that showed December retail sales slightly weaker than
expected. [].
In other economic news, higher gasoline prices helped push
December consumer prices up at the fastest pace in a year and a
half, which also weighed on consumer sentiment in early
January, according to a Reuters/University of Michigan survey.
The average gasoline price of $3.09 a gallon is the highest
since October 2008.
Increasing oil prices <CLc1> have contributed to a rise in
the S&P energy index <.GSPE>, which is near an October 2008
high in another sign of an overextended market.
Dow component Intel Corp <INTC.O> fell 0.7 percent to
$21.13 a day after it posted a better-than-expected quarterly
profit and forecast strong revenue for the coming quarter.
In the previous two quarters, when the technology
bellwether beat Wall Street estimates, the S&P 500 ended the
sessions in the opposite direction as Intel shares.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; additional reporting by Alina
Selyukh and Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
