Jobless Claims Send the Dow Higher Again: JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC)

Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) fared better, jumping 3% after hours, as the Fed approved its plan to repurchase $5 billion in common stock, and $5.5 billion in preferred shares. Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) had formerly been under close oversight by the Fed as it struggled to recapitalize following the financial crisis. B of A did not request permission to raise its quarterly dividend, which sits at just $0.01. Banking shares were generally up after hours, because the Fed gave full approval to all 18 lenders under review except JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), BB&T Corporation (NYSE:BBT), and Ally Financial Inc (NYSE:GMA).

Elsewhere, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares took a hit, falling 3.4% after JPMorgan downgraded its rating on the online titan from “overweight” to “neutral.” JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) said it saw gross profit growth slowing as the retailer switches from first-party to third-party sales. Analyst Doug Anmuth expects gross profit growth to drop from 40% in 2012, to 31% this year.

The article Jobless Claims Send the Dow Higher Again originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Jeremy Bowman.

Fool contributor Jeremy Bowman has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM).

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