Stocks rise for sixth straight session, yen climbs on BOJ speculation

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By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A gauge of global stocks advanced on Friday for a sixth straight session as investors assessed the start of U.S. earnings season, while the yen jumped to a seven-month high on speculation the Bank of Japan may move to alter its loose monetary policy.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks were lower after earnings reports from several large banks such as JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), down -0.26%, Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), off 1.74%, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) which lost 1.42% and Citigroup (NYSE:C), which edged 0.55% lower.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan also expressed caution about the slowing economic environment.

"Some of the comments about fears of a recession and (the banks) trying to continue to fortify their balance sheet against loan losses have more people nervous," said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago.

"Earnings as a whole were pretty good, banks remain extremely well capitalized."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.52 points, or -0%, to 34,188.45, the S&P 500 lost 9.4 points, or 0.24%, to 3,973.77 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 7.00 points, or 0.06%, to 10,994.11.

Still, major U.S. indexes had pared initial declines as the bank stocks moved off their early lows, with the S&P 500 banks index down 1.04% after dropping as much as 2.93%.

Helping to alleviate the initial selling pressure was data showing U.S. consumers see inflation easing over the next 12 months, according to the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, and which came on the heels of the consumer price index reading on Thursday which showed consumer prices fell slightly in December.

The dollar index rose 0.049%, with the euro down 0.2% at $1.0824.

European shares advanced, with the STOXX 600 index touching its highest level since late April, buoyed in part by better-than-expected UK economic data.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.58% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.24%. The MSCI index hit a one-month high of 636.62 and was on track for its longest daily streak of gains in just over two years.

The Japanese yen strengthened 1.23% versus the greenback at 127.69 per dollar, while Sterling was last trading at $1.2208, up 0.07% on the day after the UK GDP data.

The greenback weakened to its lowest level against the yen since late May on speculation the Bank of Japan may revise or possibly even abandon its yield curve control policy as early as next week, which also pushed benchmark 10-year government bond yields briefly above the central bank's 0.5% ceiling.

The BOJ subsequently stepped in to announce two separate rounds of emergency buying to pull the yield back down.

A newspaper report flagging the possibility of more flexibility has increased expectations of a coming shift out of ultra-easy policy that seeks to keep yields near zero. The BOJ said it will conduct additional outright bond purchases on Monday, a move that should keep yields in check.

The BOJ will likely raise its inflation forecasts next week and debate whether further steps are needed, sources familiar with the bank's thinking told Reuters.

Benchmark U.S. 10-year notes were down 0.2 basis point at 3.445%, from 3.447% late on Thursday.