4:20 pm : The major averages registered gains after a final hour rally pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to their highs. For its part, the Dow ended flat.

Quarterly earnings were in focus this morning after JPMorgan Chase (JPM 54.97, -0.17) and Wells Fargo (WFC 42.63, +0.74) announced their results. Both banks reported bottom-line beats on in-line revenues. However, JPMorgan Chase saw a 7.0% quarter-over-quarter decrease in mortgage originations while Wells Fargo reported a 2.7% increase. The results provided support for other bank shares and the financial sector settled atop the sector leaderboard with a gain of 0.5%.

Discretionary shares also outperformed the broader market as online retailers displayed strength. Amazon.com (AMZN 307.55, +7.89) jumped 2.6% and shares of the online auction site eBay (EBAY 57.04, +1.16) advanced 2.1%. However, traditional retailers did not fare as well and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 80.81, -0.20) shed 0.3%.

Equities slipped to their lows following comments from Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser, who said the Federal Reserve should begin reducing the pace of its asset purchases in September and end the program by year's end. Mr. Plosser followed those remarks by saying the Fed does not "want to create another housing boom."

Shortly after Mr. Plosser's comments, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard reiterated his opposition to dialing down the stimulus. It should be noted Mr. Bullard is a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee this year while Mr. Plosser will not have a vote until next year.

Early afternoon action saw the health care sector jump to fresh highs after Bloomberg reported Roche Holdings