NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares in JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and other banks climbed on Friday, in stark contrast with former investment banks Goldman Sachs Group (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

Shares of JPMorgan and Bank of America were both up over 4 percent, at $39.17 and $20.53 respectively, in afternoon trading. Shares in Citigroup Inc (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which on Thursday withdrew its bid to buy struggling regional bank Wachovia (WB.N: Quote, Profile, Research), were also higher at $13.37, or up about 3.4 percent.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, which recently converted to bank holding companies to boost deposits and calm investor concern about their funding sources, saw their share prices fall 32 percent and 17 percent respectively.

Analysts and investors attributed the rise in other financials to short covering, as investors bought up shares believing government action to stabilize Morgan Stanley and the rest of the market may be possible this weekend.

"I'd be surprised if people would want to be short financials going into the weekend," said Owen Fitzpatrick, head of the U.S. equity group at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management in New York.

Others noted a slight easing in the commercial paper market, which is crucial for banks' funding, as a possible reason for the boost in bank shares.

"There's so much anxiety within the financial system that any good news could set the stage for a dandy rally," said David Rolfe, chief investment officer at Wedgewood Partners, in St Louis, Missouri.

(Reporting by Elinor Comlay and Kristina Cooke; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)