US STOCKS-Dow, S&P 500 rise after strong bank results, Powell comments

By Sukriti Gupta and Twesha Dikshit

Oct 14 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Dow rose on Tuesday, shaking off a weak start, as investors digested Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments, while parsing mostly positive third-quarter results from big U.S. banks.

Powell said the U.S. labor market remained mired in its low-hiring, low-firing doldrums through September, though the economy overall "may be on a somewhat firmer trajectory than expected." He also said the central bank may soon end its balance sheet runoff.

The remarks reassured investors at a time when key economic data remains delayed due to the ongoing government shutdown.

"The bulls remain fully in charge and until that's shaken with something more significant than these comments from Chair Powell or anything else, that's likely to be the case into the start of third-quarter tech earnings next week," said Michael James, equity sales trader at Rosenblatt Securities in Los Angeles.

A slew of major lenders reported solid results on strong performance in the investment banking segment, helping the S&P 500 banking index .SPXBK rise 1.6%.

Wells Fargo WFC.N advanced 7.6% and was on track for its best day in six months and Citigroup C.N added 4.3% after both lenders beat estimates for third-quarter profit.

JPMorgan Chase JPM.N raised its full-year forecast for net interest income and Goldman Sachs GS.N beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly profit. However, shares of both JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, which have outperformed most rivals this year, fell 1.4% and 1.6%.

BlackRock's BLK.N assets under management hit a record $13.46 trillion, lifting its shares by 2.2%.

"You have a lot of positive momentum in the markets from a technical standpoint, but then fundamentally you have the earnings season going on right now and people are very positive on the U.S. companies' earnings outlooks," said Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global Investors.

At 12:58 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 309.37 points, or 0.67%, to 46,378.46, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 12.63 points, or 0.19%, to 6,667.35 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 50.73 points, or 0.22%, to 22,643.88.

The S&P 500 tech sector .SPLRCT dropped 1.1%, with losses in Nvidia NVDA.O and Broadcom AVGO.O weighing on the Nasdaq.

Defensive plays led gains, with consumer staples .SPLRCS and utilities .SPLRCU adding 1.2% each, signaling investors were treading with caution.

Gains in industrials stocks supported the Dow. Caterpillar CAT.N rose 3.7% after J.P. Morgan raised its price target on the stock.

Wall Street kicked off the session lower on concerns over Washington and Beijing's move to slap tit-for-tat additional port fees on ocean shipping firms.

Global equities were shaken on Friday after Trump threatened 100% tariffs on Chinese goods over Beijing's rare earths curbs, though a softened tone over the weekend helped calm investor nerves and lift markets on Monday.

Additionally, the International Monetary Fund edged up its 2025 global growth forecast on tariff shocks and financial conditions being more benign than expected, while warning that a renewed U.S.-China trade war could slow output significantly.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.72-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.46-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and 10 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 75 new highs and 89 new lows.