The JPMorgan Chase & Co. World headquarters are pictured on April 17, 2019 in New York City. (Photo: AFP)

JPMorgan Chase reported a surge in first-quarter earnings on Wednesday following hefty reserve releases in the recovering economy and a blowout performance in investment banking.

Earnings came in at $14.3 billion at the big US bank, up about five times the level from the year-ago period. The result included $5.2 billion in releases of funds set aside earlier in the pandemic due to fears of bad loans.