JPMorgan Q2 profit beats Street

NEW YORK: JPMorgan Chase & Co said investment banking and trading drove a larger-than-expected 36 percent jump in quarterly profit despite a surge in credit card and loan losses that could worsen.

Though the second-largest US bank is widely considered among the healthiest of the nation's major lenders, it added $2 billion to credit reserves in the quarter and set aside more than twice as much as a year earlier for bad loans. It said credit quality in consumer mortgages and credit cards is deteriorating faster than it expected.

Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said the bank was confident that its capital, reserve levels and earnings power were solid despite a "difficult economic environment" that could worsen.