US STOCKS-JPMorgan lifts Wall St, but banks due for pause

* JPMorgan profit fuels optimism about earnings

* Midcap index rises to new intraday high

* Bank stock indices signal possible resistance

* Intel falls despite strong quarter, outlook

* Indexes up: Dow 0.47 pct, S&P 0.63 pct Nasdaq 0.55 pct

* For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US] (Updates to afternoon, changes byline)

By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Optimism about corporate earnings, bolstered by JPMorgan, lifted U.S. stocks on Friday and set the S&P 500 on the path for seven straight weeks of gains.

The S&P Midcap 400 index broke its all-time intraday record, rising 0.6 percent to 929.58. The index includes companies ranging from $750 million to $3.3 billion in size.

"On balance, with supporting prices and in spite of mixed economic data, there is expectation of a strong earnings season," said Jim Awad, managing director at Zephyr Management in New York.

However, banks, which have led the S&P 500's gains so far this year, face strong technical resistance as three major indexes -- the KBW bank index <.BKX>, the S&P financial sector <.GSPF> and the Select Sector SPDR financial ETF -- approach multimonth highs reached last April.

"If we don't take a break before breaking the April highs, we're going to be extended and overbought, so it will be a dangerous breakout," said John Schlitz, chief U.S. market technician at Instinet in New York.

"Are we close to a breakout or resistance? I'd probably caution towards the latter," he said.

He said the S&P's closing in on its seventh week of gains is a warning sign for declines, which are historically not uncommon in the second half of January. The last time the benchmark rose eight or more weeks in a row was a nine-week run between November 2003 and January 2004.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 55.70 points, or 0.47 percent, to 11,787.60. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 8.05 points, or 0.63 percent, to 1,291.81. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 15.11 points, or 0.55 percent, to 2,750.40.

JPMorgan shares added 3.3 percent to $45.93 after reporting stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings. Its stock has risen 8.3 percent so far this year. [ID:nN14293086].

The KBW bank index <.BKX> rose 2.5 percent to 54.83, near a strong resistance area between 57 and 59.

Strength in banking stocks helped offset U.S. government data that showed December retail sales slightly weaker than expected. [ID:nN14146780].

In other economic news, higher gasoline prices helped push December consumer prices up at the fastest pace in a year and a half, which also weighed on consumer sentiment in early January, according to a Reuters/University of Michigan survey.

The average gasoline price of $3.09 a gallon is the highest since October 2008.

Increasing oil prices have contributed to a rise in the S&P energy index <.GSPE>, which is near an October 2008 high in another sign of an overextended market.

Dow component Intel Corp fell 0.7 percent to $21.13 a day after it posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit and forecast strong revenue for the coming quarter.

In the previous two quarters, when the technology bellwether beat Wall Street estimates, the S&P 500 ended the sessions in the opposite direction as Intel shares. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; additional reporting by Alina Selyukh and Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)