Closing Bell

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other banks drove stock indexes higher Friday. JPMorgan rose 1 percent after reporting that its income soared 47 percent in the fourth quarter. The bank set aside less money to cover bad loans and said it expected to get permission from the Federal Reserve to raise its dividend. Wells Fargo & Co., Bank of America Corp. and other large banks also rose on hopes that they too would be able to raise dividends. Banks slashed their dividends during the financial crisis to conserve cash. Investors have been urging banks to raise their dividends now that many of them are making money again. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 55 points to 11,787.38. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 9 to 1,293. The Nasdaq rose 20 to 2,755.30. Gains were spread across the market. Consumer staples companies were the only one of the 10 company groups that make up the S&P 500 index to fall. Financial companies gained the most, 1.7 percent. Bank of America Corp. jumped 3.2 percent to lead the 30 stocks that make up the Dow. Merck & Co Inc. had the largest fall, 1.3 percent. The Labor Department reported that consumer prices rose 0.5 percent last month, the largest increase since June 2009. However, 80 percent of the increase was due to higher gas prices, meaning that the risk of widespread inflation remains low.