Bank stocks rose Monday as investors anticipated learning which banking companies would be allowed to repay capital received from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
The KBW Bank Index rose 1.29%.
"Several banks should qualify to be [allowed] to repay their Tarp funds, and this is viewed as a positive in the market, suggesting that these banks have particular strength," said Frank Barkocy, director of research at Mendon Capital Advisors Corp. Those most likely to gain approval from the government are JPMorgan Chase & Co., which rose 2.4%; American Express Co., up 2.8%; Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which fell 0.4%; Bank of New York Mellon Corp., up 1.1%; U.S. Bancorp, which rose 1.9%; BB&T Corp., up 2.4%, and Capital One Financial Corp., off 2.8%.
"Even those that will not be able to pay their Tarp funds on this first go-round have made some pretty good efforts to raise additional capital," Barkocy said. On this list, Barkocy included SunTrust Banks Inc., which rose 2.2%; Wells Fargo & Co., up 2.7%; KeyCorp., up 0.6%, Regions Financial Corp., which added 7 cents, to $4.07, and Citigroup Inc., off 4 cents, at $3.42.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.02%, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 0.1%.
