Major U.S. financial shares mixed as broader market advances

Shares of major U.S. financial institutions were mixed on Friday as the broader market advanced on easing fears of poor market liquidity.

The S&P 500 rose 14.91 points, or 1.06 percent to close at 1,423.57, The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.48 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.73 percent.

Acquisitions announced this week include CBS Corp's buy of website company Cnet Networks for $1.75 billion and HP's EDS buy for $13.9 billion. Reports also show General Electric is preparing to auction its appliances unit for between $5 billion to $8 billion. The sales may indicate easing in the U.S. credit markets.

Shares of Lehman Bros Holdings advanced 6 percent. JPMorgan Chase gained 2.4 percent. Merrill Lynch advanced 2.3 percent. Morgan Stanley was up 1.6 percent.

Godman Sachs declined 0.8 percent. Bank of America slipped 0.2 percent and Wachovia lost 0.1 percent.