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JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) faces two possible class action lawsuits related to foreclosures, the No. 2 U.S. bank said in a regulatory filing.

The suits allege "common law fraud and misrepresentation, as well as violations of state consumer fraud statutes," JPMorgan said in the Securities and Exchange Commission filing, without disclosing who filed them.

Banks, under investigation by state and federal officials for sloppy or even fraudulent foreclosure paperwork, face suits from both borrowers and investors in mortgage-backed securities.

Ally Financial Inc said it has been sued by hedge fund Cambridge Place Investment Management, which has ramped up a legal scrap with Wall Street to recoup money lost on subprime mortgages.

PNC Financial Services Group (PNC.N) said it had been sued by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, alleging misrepresentations and omissions in connection with the sale of mortgage-backed securities.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N), meanwhile, is reviewing the practices of its Litton Loan Servicing unit and has temporarily suspended evictions and foreclosures in several states, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

Bank of America (BAC.N), JPMorgan and Ally's GMAC Mortgage voluntarily imposed brief moratoriums on foreclosures to review their practices but have begun to resume evictions of delinquent borrowers.

U.S. attorneys general for all 50 states are jointly investigating whether banks failed to review documents properly or submitted false information to evict delinquent borrowers.

JPMorgan said in Tuesday's quarterly SEC filing, that it believes the information it provided about the foreclosures was "materially accurate."

Since September, at least two lawsuits seeking class action status have named JPMorgan in federal court for the Northern District of Illinois: one by a Chicago homeowner claiming Wall Street banks were acting together to illegally foreclose on homes, and another by Kentucky homeowners seeking class action status for having home equity lines cut.

It was unclear whether either of these were referred to in the SEC filing. JPMorgan did not respond to requests for information on the lawsuits.

The KBW index of bank stocks was down 1.3 percent in afternoon trading. JPMorgan shares slipped 0.9 percent, PNC shares were off 1.9 percent and Goldman Sachs fell 0.8 percent.

MORTGAGE-BACKED SUITS

JPMorgan also acknowledged it faced suits related to mortgage-backed securities brought by Cambridge Place and brokerage Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW.N)

U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) will grow at a 2.0 percent annualized rate in the current quarter, the same pace as the third quarter and unchanged from the consensus last month, according to the median forecast from almost 70 economists.

Growth is expected to accelerate to an annualized 2.2 percent in the first quarter of next year, and 2.5 percent in the second quarter of 2011, also unchanged from the last poll.

"We expect that the Fed's new large-scale asset purchase program -- dubbed QE2 -- will likely boost growth only modestly, perhaps by 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent in 2011," said Richard Berner, chief U.S. economist at Morgan Stanley.

Berner added that QE2 ought to help limit downside risks to both growth and inflation. The Fed said last week it could make further purchases beyond the middle of next year if it deems that necessary.

But unlike the majority of Wall Street dealers who expect the Fed to go beyond the $600 billion of additional quantitative easing promised over the next eight months, the consensus of a broader range of economists across the U.S. and Europe thought the Fed would stop there.

"For now we view the QE2 news as a 'one and done'," said George Goncalves, head of U.S. interest rate strategy at Nomura Securities International.

A Reuters poll conducted last week found most of the 18 U.S. primary bond dealers -- large financial institutions which do business directly with the Fed and which benefit directly from bond purchases -- do expect the Fed to expand the program.

Goldman Sachs was at the high end of expectations, calling for $2 trillion of purchases under QE2 -- more than three times what the Fed has said it will do.

All but 3 of 83 economists in the latest poll expected the Fed to maintain the fed funds rate at 0-0.25 percent until the middle of next year and medians show no hike until early 2012.

Inflation and core inflation consensus forecasts remained muted, and broadly unchanged. Core CPI is seen at 1.0 percent this year and 1.1 percent in 2011.

The latest Reuters poll was conducted after the U.S. government said employers added far more jobs in November than economists had expected.

That raised some hopes the labor market may be on the mend after shedding millions of jobs in the worst recession in over 70 years.

In the October poll, only 11 of 69 economists correctly predicted the 2.0 percent growth rate for the third quarter of this year. Most were too pessimistic.

(Polling by the Bangalore Polling Unit; additional analysis by Namrata Anchan and Ruby Cherian; editing by Ross Finley and Stephen Nisbet)

* U.S. crude oil futures hit a fresh two-year top after bullish comments from an industry group, while copper hit its highest since July 2008, helped by falling inventories coupled with supply concerns.

* The U.S. Federal Reserve's attempt to spur the economy by buying $600 billion in Treasury debt has helped commodity prices and led stocks to rally over the last two months. Equities have also developed a close inverse relationship with the dollar.

* Renewed concerns about euro zone economies weighed on the euro, which hit its lowest in more than a week versus the dollar, before recovering to sit flat.

* S&P 500 futures rose 3.2 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 28 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 9 points.

* Investors were cautious ahead of this week's G20 summit. China warned the U.S. Fed's latest quantitative easing could inflate asset bubbles elsewhere, keeping pressure on Washington ahead of the meeting.

* Top Fed officials offered differing assessments of the central bank's bond-buying program, unveiled last week, with one warning that the Fed's bond buying might need to be curbed to head off inflation.

* Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, has been approached by a group of private equity investors to gauge his interest in taking part in a bid to buy Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O), a source said.

* Economic data on tap for Tuesday includes wholesale inventories for September and IBD consumer confidence.

*In corporate news, Dean Foods Co (DF.N), Marsh & McLennan Cos Inc (MMC.N) and Rockwell Automation Inc (ROK.N) are expected to report quarterly results. <RESF/US>

* Japan's Nikkei average .N225 ended down 0.4 percent Tuesday as investors pocketed profits after the average had jumped more than 6 percent over the previous four sessions, while European shares rose 0.7 percent in morning trade, led by strong gains in the resource-related sector.

* Wall Street retreated from a two-year high on Monday, weighed down by financial stocks and a stronger dollar.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Gold added to a record breaking run, hitting a new high above $1,400 an ounce as investors sought safe havens in the face of a number of uncertainties, including the euro-area debt concerns and this week's G20 leaders' summit.

The euro has dropped 3 percent against the dollar from a 9- month high set last week and against the yen has slipped to a one-week low, although some forecast limited downside.

"We've probably seen a short-term top in the euro," said Grant Turley, strategist at ANZ in Sydney, adding it was a mild corrective move and unlikely to worsen unless concerns over the euro zone's sovereign debt intensify.

Ireland is the latest country to rattle the single currency, with Irish borrowing costs extending a month-long climb on worries about a political impasse in Dublin ahead of a budget vote.

The yield on Irish 10-year bonds hit 8 percent for the first time on Monday.

Adding to the market's cautious tone, top officials at the U.S. Federal Reserve offered differing assessments of the central bank's $600 billion bond-buying programme announced last week.

One argued it was an effective way to offset deflation risks and another warned it might need to be curbed to head-off inflationary pressures.

Another uncertainty for markets is a G20 leaders' meeting this week in South Korea, where currency tensions loom large.

"The market is also going to be wary ahead of G20 but I think they'll struggle to come up with any substantive plan," ANZ's Turley said.

Investors in stock markets, cautious after recent rises, chose to bank gains.

The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 fell 0.7 percent in early trade after the index had risen to a three-month high the previous day.

Shares in Japanese precision machinery makers, which depend on Europe for many of their sales, were among the biggest losers as investors worried a strong yen would crimp earnings.

"The yen's strength against the euro is inducing some selling pressure," said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief equity marketing officer at Tokai Tokyo Securities.

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS eased.