U.S. stocks ended mixed Wednesday after a late-session profit taking almost wiped off a 156-point rally in the Dow average that was fueled by the Fed’s encouraging assessment of the economy and its decision to keep interest rates low for an extended period.  The optimism was short-lived as investors appeared jittery ahead of the October jobs report on Friday. Fresh concerns over bank earnings resurfaced after the House of Representatives passed a bill curbing credit card rate increases.

After the house vote, financials slumped 1.5% and led the decliners among the S&P 500 industry groups.  Analyst Meredith Whitney noted the biggest U.S. banks may face declining values on home-loan bonds with government backing as the Fed moves towards ending its $1.25 trillion purchase program.  Whitney said bank earnings are far from approaching "normalcy," and will reflect regulatory changes for an extended period.  JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) fell 1.2% to $42.21 and

Increased activity on the merger and acquisition front and promising signs that the economic downturn is easing sent U.S. stocks higher Tuesday as traders, back after a long weekend, picked up energy and commodity stocks.  With traders turning to riskier bets, Treasury prices sank, sending corresponding yields higher.  Positive factors sent gold prices beyond the $1,000 per ounce mark, before prices eased a little to settle at $997.80.  Dollar declined 1.1% to $1.4498 per euro.  Copper prices gained 3.1% on improved global recovery prospects.

The 30-share Dow Jones industrial average rose 56 points, or 0.6%, to 9,497.34 and the S&P 500 index added 9 points, or 0.9%, to 1,025.39, its highest close in 11 months.  The tech-heavy NASDAQ added 19 points, or 0.94%, to close at 2,037.77 points. On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues outpaced those that declined three to one on volume of 1.32 billion shares.