US STOCKS-S&P 500, Dow rise on boost from bank earnings

* Goldman Sachs up as profit jumps on record dealmaking

* JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM ) falls despite profit surging nearly five-fold

* Coinbase will list on Nasdaq later in the day

* Dow up 0.62%, S&P adds 0.08%, Nasdaq down 0.22% (Adds comments, updates to early afternoon)

By Shivani Kumaresan and Shreyashi Sanyal

April 14 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Dow rose on Wednesday after upbeat earnings reports from Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan boosted investor expectations of a strong rebound for corporate America amid swift COVID-19 vaccinations.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS ) GS.N rose 3.9% after it reported a massive jump in first-quarter profit, capitalizing on record levels of global dealmaking activity. Chase & Co's JPM.N shares fell 1.0% even as the largest U.S. bank's earnings jumped almost 400% in the first quarter, as it released more than $5 billion in reserves it had set aside to cover coronavirus-driven loan defaults. Fargo & Co WFC.N jumped 5.5% after the bank bounced back to a profit of almost $5 billion in the first quarter, ahead of Wall Street estimates as it reduced bad loan provisions and got a grip on the costs tied to its sales practices scandal. bank earnings were strong, but the market expected them to be strong. So I think easy money has been made in the cyclical areas and it is going to be a little difficult now going forward," said Christopher Grisanti, chief equity strategist at MAI Capital Management.

"So the question becomes how do the bank stocks rise more from here. That's not clear. They have had a nice ride. I think there will be other places to make money more easily in the future."

The Nasdaq Composite index .IXIC was down 30.79 points, or 0.22%, at 13,965.31 in early afternoon trading, with high-flying technology stocks including Apple Inc AAPL.O , Microsoft Corp MSFT.O and Tesla Inc TSLA.O weighing on the index.

Five out of the 11 main S&P 500 sectors were higher in early trading, with financials .SPSY up 1.1%, while the S&P 500 banks index .SPXBK added 1.4%. The S&P 500 energy sector .SPNY jumped 4.1%, tracking higher oil prices. O/R

The S&P 500 financials sector was one of the best performers in the first quarter, rising 15%, even as the Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates low in the near future.

Earnings for S&P 500 companies in the quarter are estimated to have risen 25%, according to Refinitiv IBES data. That would be the biggest quarterly gain since 2018, when tax cuts under former President Donald Trump had powered profit growth.

Earnings at S&P 500 firms had dropped 12.8% in the first quarter of 2020 and 30.6% in the second, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

At 12:19 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 209.17 points, or 0.62%, at 33,886.44 and the S&P 500 .SPX was up 3.13 points, or 0.08%, at 4,144.72.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain-related firms including Riot Blockchain RIOT.O and Marathon Digital Holdings MARA.O rose ahead of Coinbase Global Inc's COIN.O listing on the Nasdaq, a day after bitcoin hit a record high of over $63,000. issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.40-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 2.05-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 66 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 79 new highs and 24 new lows.