US STOCKS-Market rises as JPMorgan profit outweighs data

                                

                                
 * JPMorgan Q4 profit tops view, stock edges higher
                                
 * Midcap index hits all-time intraday high
                                
 * Intel falls despite strong quarter, outlook
                                
 * Indexes: Dow up 0.2 pct, S&P and Nasdaq up 0.3 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US]
 (Updates to midday, changes byline)
                                
 By Alina Selyukh
                                
 NEW YORK, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Stronger-than-expected
earnings from JPMorgan Chase & Co lifted the stock market
slightly on Friday, offsetting weak economic data and putting
the S&P 500 on track for its seventh straight week of gains.
                                
 The S&P Midcap 400 index, recently bolstered by optimism
about corporate earnings, surpassed its all-time intraday
record, rising 0.2 percent to hit 926.78. The index includes
companies ranging from $750 million to $3.3 billion in size.
                                
 Shares of JPMorgan <JPM.N> added 2.6 to $45.61 after its
earnings report, while the KBW banking index <.BKX> rose 1.2
percent. For details, see [ID:nN14293086]
                                
 "We're optimistic that the earnings season starting is
actually going to be pretty positive," said Thomas Nyheim, vice
president and portfolio manager at Christiana Bank & Trust Co
in Greenville, Delaware.
                                
 Earnings should offset "not-so-good economic numbers that
are coming out," Nyheim said.
                                
 U.S. government data showed December retail sales slightly
weaker than expected. [ID:nN14146780]
                                
 Also, higher gasoline prices pushed overall December
consumer prices up at their 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.[ID:nN14146780] [ID:nN14150837]
                                
 Driving prices at the pump, U.S. oil prices <CLc1> have
soared more than 62 percent since early 2009. The S&P energy
index <.GSPE> has been rising for eight months and is close to
its highest since October 2008.
                                
 Another week of gains for the benchmark S&P 500 would make
it the longest stretch since April-May 2007.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 19.07
points, or 0.16 percent, to 11,750.97. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> added 3.32 points, or 0.26 percent, to
1,287.08. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> rose 6.99 points,
or 0.26 percent, to 2,742.28.
                                
 Dow component Intel Corp <INTC.O> fell 0.9 percent to
$21.11, a day after it posted a better-than-expected quarterly
profit and forecast strong revenue for the coming quarter.
                                
 Financials have been the biggest market driver in recent
weeks. Since the start of December, the KBW banking index
surged almost 21 percent, while the S&P gained almost 9
percent.
                                
 On Friday, financials also received a boost from S&P
Ratings Services when the agency released an optimistic outlook
for 2011, forecasting further stabilization. [ID:nWNA8894]
                                
 In a sign of sputtering state and local finances around the
country, most of the 137 companies hitting new 52-week lows on
the New York Stock Exchange were closed-end municipal bond
funds. Shares of BlackRock Inc <BKT.N>, the world's biggest
money manager, were also at 52-week lows, down 0.4 percent on
the day to $6.76.
  (Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by
Kenneth Barry)