Stocks Open Higher on Strong Banking Results

Banking stocks continued to lead the markets out of its recent doldrums, but lower housing starts suggested a prolonged economic recovery. The Dow lost 5 points to 8024 while Nasdaq rose 15 points to 1642.

On the upside

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) posted $2.14 billion in 1st quarter profits. While credit losses continued, the company's trading arm enjoyed record revenues from buying and selling bonds.

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) managed to post small 1st quarter earnings which beat analysts' estimates. Some had even anticipated the world's largest phone maker to post a loss.

eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) offered to buy a majority stake in South Korea's Gmarket (Nasdaq: GMKT) including the 10% owned by Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO).

On the downside

Southwest Air (NYSE: LUV) posted a larger than expected loss as fewer travelers took to the skies.

An analyst downgraded State Street (NYSE: STT) whose shares immediately fell sharply.

Financial advisory firm Chimera Investment (NYSE: CIM) announced plans to raise up to $705 million by issuing stock.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 5 to 4 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added a point to 462.