US stocks have risen slightly a day after hitting all-time highs, with better-than-expected earnings from bank giants JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo offset by a UPS profit warning.

After opening flat, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 24.06 points (0.16 per cent) at 15,484.98 after an hour of Friday trade.

The S&P 500-stock index edged up 0.80 (0.05 per cent) to 1,675.82, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite rose 8.16 (0.23 per cent) to 3,586.46.

Kicking off earnings season for banks, Dow member JPMorgan reported a 31 per cent jump in second-quarter profits over a year earlier, when the bank took a charge of $US4.4 billion ($A4.82 billion) for the “London whale” trading loss.

Chief executive Jamie Dimon said the pace of the economic recovery remains fairly slow and loan growth across the banking industry “continues to be soft”.

Wells Fargo posted a 19.4 per cent profit rise. The nation’s biggest mortgage originator said its gains were helped by lower provisions for bad loans.

The two banks’ earnings handily topped Wall Street expectations. JPMorgan shares added 0.5 per cent and Wells Fargo jumped 1.5 per cent.

But UPS, the logistics company seen as a bellwether for the global economy, slashed its profit forecast for the upcoming quarter, citing in part slowing US industrial activity.

“What’s more is that UPS said it expects second-quarter market trends to persist,” said Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com. UPS shares slumped 5.1 per cent.

On the economic front, producer prices rose a more than expected 0.8 per cent in June and the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index unexpectedly fell in July.

Bond prices climbed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.53 per cent from 2.57 per cent late on Thursday, while the 30-year fell to 3.60 per cent from 3.62 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.