NEW YORK, July 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks erased initial declines to trade little changed on Thursday as declines in JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and financial shares were offset by gains in Walt Disney Co (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) following an analyst upgrade.

* The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 32.80 points, or 0.38 percent, to 8,649.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX gained 1.10 points, or 0.12 percent, to 933.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC gained 4.60 points, or 0.25 percent, to 1,867.50. (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)