JPMorgan slips after CEO dividend comments

Dow Jones:12,270.99 (+7.41) S&P 500:1,314.41 (+0.25) Nasdaq:2,761.52 (+16.73)

US STOCKS finished mostly flat in a choppy session yesterday, as investors bet on strong technology earnings even as JPMorgan Chase’s numbers weighed on other market sectors.

Network equipment maker Riverbed Technology boosted the industry and helped buoy the Nasdaq after its quarterly outlook. The stock surged 12.4 per cent to $34.74 on four times the average daily volume over the last 50 days.

“This earnings season is an expectation game,” said King Lip, chief investment officer of Baker Avenue Asset Management in San Francisco.

F5 Networks shares gained 3.1 per cent to $96.70.

JPMorgan Chase shares fell 0.8 per cent to $46.25 after earlier rising more than 1 per cent.

The Dow component beat expectations with its profit, but enthusiasm waned after the banks chief executive said in a conference call there would not be another dividend hike soon.

In an outline of his budget proposal, President Barack Obama said he would refuse to renew Bush-era tax breaks for wealthier Americans. A deal to extend those cuts last December propelled the SP 500 to its highest level in two years.

The Dow Jones gained 7.41 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 12,270.99. The S&Ps 500 Indexinched up 0.25 of a point, or 0.02 per cent, to 1,314.41. The Nasdaq added 16.73 points, or 0.61 percent, to 2,761.52.

EMC Corp led tech shares higher after a Goldman Sachs analyst said he expects a better-than-consensus quarter for the top maker of corporate data storage equipment. EMCs shares gained 3.3 percent to $26.69.

The S&P Information Technology Index added 0.7 per cent.

From a technical perspective, the SP 500 weakened as its daily moving average convergence-divergence, a gauge of short-term relative performance, triggered a “sell” signal for the first time since late March.

About 6.9 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq, below last years estimated daily average of 8.47 billion.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,535 to 1,374, while on the Nasdaq 1,317 shares rose and 1,251 stocks fell.

– (Reuters)