US STOCKS-Wall St inches to fresh record after upbeat JPMorgan, Citi results

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* JPMorgan, Citi rise on fourth-quarter profit beat
* Wells Fargo slides as legal costs hit earnings
* Delta Air Lines gains on profit beat; peers rise
* Indexes up: Dow 0.45%, S&P 0.12%, Nasdaq 0.14%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Sruthi Shankar
Jan 14 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks eked out gains to hit fresh
record highs on Tuesday, as stronger-than-expected earnings from
JPMorgan and Citigroup added to optimism about the domestic
economy ahead of the imminent signing of a U.S.-China trade
deal.
Kicking off the fourth-quarter earnings season, the largest
U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N , rose 1.9% after reporting
a better-than-expected profit on strength in its trading and
underwriting businesses, helping the blue-chip Dow index
outperform. Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N dropped 4.2% after reporting a
slump in profit, as it set aside $1.5 billion for legal
expenses, while Citigroup Inc C.N rose 2.7% as it topped Wall
Street profit estimates. The S&P 500 banks index .SPXBK was up 0.8%.
"It (bank earnings) is reflective of where we are in the
economic cycle," said Mike Loewengart, vice president of
investment strategy at E*TRADE Financial Corp.
"We're coming off a decade of consistent gains and banks,
especially JPMorgan producing record earnings, it's not
surprising given the strength of the U.S. economy."
Analysts expect profits at S&P 500 companies to drop 0.5%
for the second consecutive quarter, according to Refinitiv IBES
data, largely due to a drag in energy and industrial earnings
that have been hit by a prolonged Sino-U.S. trade war.
China has pledged to buy nearly an additional $80 billion of
manufactured goods from the United States over the next two
years, and over $50 billion more in energy supplies, Reuters
reported, citing a source briefed on the Phase 1 trade deal that
is expected to be signed on Wednesday. However, checking gains on Wall Street were technology and
internet stocks that took the main indexes to record highs in
the previous session. Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Apple Inc
AAPL.O , Nvidia Corp NVDA.O and Facebook Inc FB.O shed
between 0.8% and 1%.
At 1:12 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 128.94 points, or 0.45%, at 29,035.99, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 3.94 points, or 0.12%, at 3,292.07 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 13.27 points, or 0.14%, at 9,287.20.
Delta Air Lines Inc DAL.N rose 3.6% after reporting a
better-than-expected quarterly profit, boosted by customers
gained from rival airlines' 737 MAX cancellations. The S&P 1500
airlines index .SPCOMAIR rose 2%. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.69-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.84-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 58 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 148 new highs and 23 new lows.