Stocks give up early gains; banks are weaker

NEW YORK — Financial stocks fell Wednesday after the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase said the bank's losses from mortgages will continue for a while.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the first big bank to release first-quarter earnings, reported net income that beat expectations. JPMorgan's investment banking and credit card businesses did well, but its mortgage business remained weak. Chief executive Jamie Dimon said JPMorgan and other banks will likely pay more fees and penalties after investigations into foreclosure proceedings in all 50 states are finished.

Broad market indicators fell slightly in afternoon trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 2 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,312. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 12, or 0.1 percent, to 12,251. The Nasdaq composite gained 9, or 0.3 percent, to 2,754.

Financial companies fell 0.7 percent. JP Morgan lost 0.7 percent, while Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. each lost more than 1 percent.

Stocks had risen in early trading after the government reported that retail sales rose 0.4 percent overall in March, though much of the gain was due to higher gas prices. It was the ninth straight month of increases.

Silgan Holdings Inc., a consumer packaging maker, jumped 13 percent after announcing that it had agreed to buy rival Graham Packaging Co. in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $1.28 billion. Graham jumped 27 percent.

iRobot Corp., the maker of the Roomba vacuum cleaning robot, jumped 12 percent after saying it had signed a $230 million contract with the U.S. Navy to develop small robotic vehicles.

Later Wednesday afternoon, President Obama will outline how he hopes to control the nation's growing debt. Investors have been worried about how the market for Treasury bonds and notes will react as the country approaches its debt limit in the next few weeks.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.48 percent from 3.50 percent late Tuesday. Treasury yields move in the opposite direction of their prices.