* JPMorgan shares lower after CEO comments on dividend
* Raised Riverbed outlook helps lift Nasdaq
* Dow, S&P down 0.1 pct, Nasdaq up 0.3 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Updates with details on Obama budget proposal)
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, April 13 (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P slipped on
Wednesday as JPMorgan Chase & Co's <JPM.N> strong profit growth
was not enough to convince investors that quarterly earnings
would propel stocks out of the recent trading range.
While the S&P was on track for its fifth straight day of
losses, the Nasdaq inched higher with help from tech shares a
day after Riverbed Technology Inc <RVBD.O> raised its quarterly
outlook. The stock surged 14 percent to $35.14 while competitor
F5 Networks Inc <FFIV.O> was one of the top gainers on the
Nasdaq 100 <>, up 2.9 percent. For details, see
[]
JPMorgan shares slipped 1 percent at $46.19 after rising
more than 1 percent earlier. The Dow component beat
expectations with its profit, but enthusiasm waned after the
bank's chief executive said in a conference call there would
not be another dividend hike soon.
"People are getting the sense that no matter what these
companies say, the easy money has already been made, so it will
be tough to see further upward movement," said Rick Fier, vice
president at Conifer Securities in New York, which has about $7
billion in assets under administration.
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For details, see []
To see a graphic on the results:
http://r.reuters.com/dug98r
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The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund <XLF.P> fell 0.8
percent while Bank of America <BAC.N>, which is slated to
report results later this week, fell 1.2 percent to $13.31.
Financials have struggled in the first quarter of 2011,
with low volume. The KBW Banks index <.BKX> is down 0.8 percent
since the start of the year, compared with gains of 4.3 percent
in the S&P.
"Given the run we've seen, some people are cutting back on
long exposure, but not to the point where they're taking a
directional bet," he added. "We're in a range and I don't see
people setting up for either a breakout or a breakdown."
President Barack Obama proposed cutting ballooning U.S.
budget deficits by $4 trillion over 12 years and called for
talks with Democratic and Republican lawmakers to address the
worsening fiscal woes. Stocks showed little impact from Obama's
proposal. []
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was down 7.42
points, or 0.06 percent, at 12,256.16. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was down 1.51 points, or 0.11 percent, at
1,312.65. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 8.29
points, or 0.30 percent, at 2,753.08.
Stocks tumbled on Tuesday after Alcoa Inc <AA.N> reported
weak revenue, which sparked concerns about the earnings season.
Bespoke Investment Group said that since 2001, whenever both
Alcoa and the S&P decline on the first day of earnings, the
S&P's average return over the remainder of the season is minus
0.98 percent.
"It's too early into the season to tell whether it will be
considered a broadly strong quarter, but we may not see a beat
rate similar to what we've seen in quarters past," said Liz Ann
Sonders, the New York-based chief investment strategist at
Charles Schwab, which has $1.6 trillion in client assets.
Retail sales rose only modestly in March as auto sales
plunged and consumers stretched to pay for pricey gasoline, but
upward revisions to the prior months' data pointed to fairly
solid first-quarter spending. []
The Federal Reserve will release its Beige Book of regional
economic conditions at 2:00 p.m. (1800 GMT).
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
