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Wall Street ekes out a small gain

A last-minute turnaround is leaving the stock market with small gains for the day — enough to leave major U.S. indexes at new all-time highs.

The Dow Jones industrial average eked out a gain of three points, just 0.02 percent, to close at 15,464 Friday.

The Dow was in the red for most of the afternoon because of a sharp drop in Boeing following a fire in a 787 Dreamliner parked in London.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose five points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,680.

The Dow and S&P also closed at record highs Thursday.

The Nasdaq rose 21, or 0.6 percent, to 3,600.

UPS sank 6 percent after cutting its earnings forecast as customers chose cheaper shipping options.

Banks rose after Wells Fargo and JPMorgan beat earnings forecasts.

Earnings news was mixed. Profits at big banks Wells Fargo and JP Morgan came in better than expected, and that helped bank stocks. But UPS cut its profit outlook and said it’s seeing a slowdown in U.S. industry.

Cost-cutting boosted profits at Wells Fargo, and its stock rose 69 cents, or 1.6 percent, $42.58. JPMorgan Chase reported a 32 percent jump in profits. Its stock rose 30 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $55.44.

Anthony Conroy, managing director and head trader for BNY ConvergEx Group, said JPMorgan’s credit numbers were strong. “That means the consumer’s out there spending and borrowing and propping up the whole economy, and that’s a good thing,” he said.

Conroy thinks it’s likely that stocks will move higher, as long as second-quarter earnings reports at least match the low expectations that investors have. “The three most important things in the next couple of weeks are earnings, earnings, and earnings,” he said.

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