US STOCKS-Wall St ticks up in choppy trading after mixed bank results

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* Goldman Sachs jumps as profit nearly doubles
* Wells Fargo, Bank of America drop after results
* Concho surges on report of deal talks with ConocoPhillips
* Indexes up: Dow 0.03%, S&P 0.08%, Nasdaq 0.08%

(Adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Shivani Kumaresan
Oct 14 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes inched higher
in choppy trading on Wednesday as investors digested a mixed bag
of quarterly earnings reports from major U.S. banks.
Goldman Sachs GS.N edged up as strength in its trading
business helped quarterly profit surge 94%. Bank of America
BAC.N shed 4.0% after it missed revenue estimates and Wells
Fargo WFC.N declined 4.6% as its profit fell short of
forecasts. The S&P 500 banks index .SPXBK dropped 1.3% as the
third-quarter earnings season took off amid improving
expectations over the extent of the drop in overall profits for
S&P 500 firms. Analysts now expect earnings to fall 18.9% from a
year, according to Refinitiv IBES data, versus a 25% drop on
July 1.
"People are lot more optimistic about earnings ... Q3 is
going to be negative but better," said Sam Stovall, chief
investment strategist at CFRA Research.
An impasse over a COVID-19 stimulus bill in Washington also
kept the mood in check. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
said the Republican-led Senate would vote next week on a
targeted $500 billion coronavirus aid bill of the type Democrats
have already rejected as they hold out for trillions in relief.
Fading hopes of a deal on federal aid as well as a halt in
trials of a COVID-19 vaccine and a treatment pulled Wall
Street's main indexes back from one-month highs on Tuesday.
Investors are expecting more aid after the Nov. 3
presidential election in the event Congress fails to agree on a
deal in the next three weeks.
A widening lead for Democratic candidate Joe Biden in
national opinion polls has also been a positive for markets as
investors expect more infrastructure spending and less global
trade uncertainty, strategists and fund managers said.
At 10:55 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 8.87 points, or 0.03%, at 28,688.68, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 2.79 points, or 0.08%, at 3,514.72. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 9.10 points, or 0.08%, at 11,873.00.
Energy stocks .SPNY rose the most among major S&P sectors
on the back of a rise in oil prices. O/R
Apple Inc AAPL.O firmed about 0.8% after sliding during an
event on Tuesday when the company launched its next-generation
iPhone 12. Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O gained 3.6% as several brokerages
raised their target price on the chipmaker's shares.
UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N dropped 2.1% despite raising
its profit forecast as the U.S. insurer said it was difficult to
predict the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic on earnings.
Concho Resources Inc CXO.N surged 12.3% after a report
that oil producer ConocoPhillips COP.N was in talks to acquire
the shale producer. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.34-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a
1.02-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 20 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 93 new highs and seven new lows.