Wall St flat as rebound loses steam; JPMorgan weighs

By Angela Moon

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed on Thursday after an earlier rebound, following three days of declines, fizzled by mid-morning as investors booked recent profits amid a dearth of market catalysts.

JPMorgan Chase & Co was among the largest decliners on the Dow Jones industrial average; shares fell 1.3 percent to $54.60. The biggest U.S. bank by assets faces a criminal probe by the U.S. Department of Justice over sales of mortgage-backed securities.

The S&P financial sector index <.SPSY> was off 0.3 percent.

Stocks had inched lower much of this week, pulling back from record levels, on concerns the Federal Reserve will start to reduce its stimulus efforts this year as the economy recovers. Gains in equities have been closely tied to the Fed's stimulative policy, and many investors are concerned economic growth may lose steam without the Fed's help.

 

"If we end lower, this would be the first four straight days of losses this year. We've had this tremendous rally this year so the market is just taking a breather, digesting the good earnings season winding down," said Ryan Detrick, senior strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 33.87 points, or 0.22 percent, at 15,436.80. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.28 points, or 0.02 percent, at 1,690.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 7.11 points, or 0.19 percent, at 3,661.12.

The benchmark S&P 500 is now about 20 points away from the all-time high of 1,709.67 set last week. Earlier in the session, it had risen above its 14-day moving average of 1,694.06.

Lifting the Nasdaq, Microsoft Corp shares rose 2.5 percent to $32.86.

Shares of Tesla Motors Inc jumped 14.2 percent to $153.46 a day after the electric car maker posted an unexpected quarterly profit. The stock has been a major momentum favorite this year, up almost 350 percent in 2013.

On the data front, U.S. weekly jobless claims rose less than expected to 333,000 in the latest week. Overseas, China's July exports rose 5.1 percent, topping expectations and spurring hope the world's second-largest economy might be stabilizing after more than two years of slowing growth.

Costco Wholesale Corp's July sales were below expectations, sending shares 1.2 percent lower to $117.90.

But Groupon Inc shares soared 24 percent to $10.83. Late Wednesday, the online coupon company reported revenue that exceeded expectations and named its co-founder as chief executive.

Orbitz Worldwide Inc , an online travel agency, reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings as it booked more hotel and vacation packages, and it forecast full-year revenue above current analysts' estimates.

Priceline.com Inc and Nvidia Corp are scheduled to report results later Thursday.

Of 434 companies in the S&P 500 that reported earnings through Wednesday morning, Thomson Reuters data showed that 66.8 percent topped analysts' expectations, in line with the 67 percent beat rate over the past four quarters. In terms of revenue, 54.1 percent beat estimates, more than in the past four quarters, but below the 61 percent average since 2002.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)