JPMorgan profit rises 16.8 percent

REUTERS - JPMorgan Chase & Co, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, reported a 16.8 percent rise in quarterly profit on Thursday as the bank made more loans and racked up additional revenue from increased trading.

The bank's net income rose to $6.45 billion in the first quarter ended March 31 from $5.52 billion a year earlier.

Earnings per share rose to $1.65 from $1.35. [http://bit.ly/2nHTfHJ]

Analysts had expected earnings of $1.52 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the reported results were comparable.

Trading increased across Wall Street over the past year as investors changed their positions around the Brexit vote, the U.S. elections and the Federal Reserve's hikes in interest rates.

Customers also borrowed more as the economy expanded, though the pace of loan growth has slackened somewhat recently.

Wells Fargo & Co and Citigroup Inc are also scheduled to report results on Thursday.

(Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru and David Henry in New York; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)