Energy shares lift Wall Street, but BofA slips

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Friday as rebounding oil prices led shares of energy companies, including Chevron Corp higher, tempering persistent worries about the health of the banking sector.

Shares of Chevron were a top boost to the Dow, rising more than 2 percent to $72.44, but shares of Bank of America declined 3 percent to $8.07 as investors fretted about the lingering effects of the credit crisis.

In sign of continuing financial sector strains due to credit woes, Bank of America reported a $1.79 billion fourth-quarter loss, excluding Merrill Lynch, which it recently acquired.

Additionally, Bank of America, the largest U.S. bank, received a $20 billion capital infusion from the government, a move that analysts said pointed to lingering effects of the credit crunch.

"The fact that Bank of America had to go to the government for help, what this confirms is that we are not past the financial crisis," said Matt McCall, president of Penn Financial Group in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

"Everybody out there believes that the government will not let these banks fail and that's what giving the market a bounce today."

In other banking news, Citigroup , another major bank, reported a quarterly net loss of $8.29 billion and said it would split into two operating units to shed troubled assets. Citi shares were up 8 percent at $4.14.

U.S. front-month crude climbed 1.4 percent $35.91 a barrel.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 74.23 points, or 0.90 percent, to 8,286.72. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 8.16 points, or 0.97 percent, to 851.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> advanced 14.75 points, or 0.98 percent, to 1,526.59.

(Editing by James Dalgleish)

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