(Adds JPMorgan comment, paragraph 6)

NEW YORK, April 9 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has cut three senior analysts and a handful of junior analysts from its North American equity research operation, according to a person familiar with the move.

The bank is also ending coverage of nearly 50 companies, it said in research report on small and mid-cap companies on Thursday.

The second-largest U.S. bank and other Wall Street firms have been trimming research to cut costs as the global recession deepens.

JPMorgan said at its annual investor day in February that it expects to cut 1,000 to 2,000 jobs in its investment bank this year. The research cuts are included in this figure, the person familiar with the plans said.

Last week, two alternative research executives left JPMorgan to set up their own company and they said the bank is cutting 30 percent of its research division [ID:nN31403840].

A JPMorgan spokeswoman said the 30 percent number is "unfounded." She declined to elaborate.

The three senior analysts that have left are John Pancari, who covered small and mid-cap banks, Kevin Pollard, who followed small and mid-cap oil companies, and Jay Deahna, a semiconductor equipment analyst. None of the three came from Bear Stearns, which JPMorgan acquired a year ago.

The bank retains a presence in all of these sectors and much of Pancari's and Pollard's coverage has been reassigned, the person said. The bank may pick up its coverage of some of the companies that have been dropped at a later date, the source added.

The companies that the bank is dropping are mostly from the financial, technology and energy sectors. (Reporting by Elinor Comlay, editing by Tim Dobbyn)