A rise in consumer confidence boosted bank stocks Friday.
The KBW Bank Index rose 1.13%, ending the week up 4.18%.
The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its preliminary index of confidence for June rose to 69 from May's 68.7. Economists on average had expected 69.5.
Scott Anderson, a senior economist at Wells Fargo & Co., wrote in a note issued Friday that the recession has "clearly entered a less scary phase."
"Consumer and business demand is no longer in free fall as they were in the last two quarters of 2008 and first quarter of 2009, but new orders remain mixed, and there are still plenty of areas of weakness around," he wrote. "Wednesday's release of the June Beige Book report remained a sobering read for the most part. Yes, stability was mentioned more often, but the words expansion and growth were noticeably absent. It is clear that the economy, at least in early June, had not yet reached a bottom."
Gainers included JPMorgan Chase & Co., up 0.5%; Bank of America Corp., 5.8%; Wells Fargo & Co., 1.8%; U.S. Bancorp, 1.2%; KeyCorp, 2.5%, and Regions Financial Corp., up 9 cents a share, to $4.46.
Trading in B of A's shares was temporarily halted at midday due to a loss of server connectivity at the New York Stock Exchange. About 240 stocks were affected.
Decliners included PNC Financial Services Group Inc., off 2.6%; Marshall & Ilsley Corp., 0.2%; Comerica Inc., 0.8%, and Citigroup Inc., down 1 cent, to $3.47 a share.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.32%, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index 0.14%.
