New York, April 20 (Reuters): JPMorgan Chase & Co, one of the largest US banks, on Wednesday said quarterly earnings rose 17 per cent and beat estimates, helped by its merger with Bank One Corp and a rebound in trading.

The New York-based financial services company, which bought Bank One last July, said first-quarter net income rose to $2.26 billion, or 63 cents per share, from $1.93 billion, or 92 cents per share, a year ago.

Per-share totals fell because JPMorgan had more shares outstanding than a year earlier.

Excluding a $558 million litigation charge and a $90 million of merger charges, the bank earned $2.9 billion, or 81 cents per share.

Wall Street analysts had forecast profit of 70 cents per share. Shares rose 1.6 per cent to $35.50 before the bell.

Total assets rose just 2 per cent from the fourth quarter to $1.18 trillion, causing JPMorgan to fall behind Bank of America Corp in size. Bank of America, which reported $1.21 trillion of assets, is now the second-largest US bank, behind Citigroup Inc. JPMorgan ranks No. 3.

The rebound in trading revenues made the investment banking unit a top driver of earnings growth and came as bond markets were roiled with volatility and interest rate swings in the quarter, compelling investors to trade often.

JPMorgan?s solid performance follows a 75 per cent rise in profits at Bank of America and a 3 per cent increase at Citigroup, in the quarter.

The investment banking unit?s strength ?is a step in the right direction,? said Mark Batty, financial services analyst at PNC Advisors. ?They are showing progress after being criticised for underperforming in investment banking compared to their peers.?