Bank stocks helped lift the broader markets Monday because of a bullish analyst report on the sector.
The KBW Bank Index rose 3.21%, the Dow Jones industrial average 1.18% and the Standard & Poor's 500 1.49%.
Goldman Sachs analysts upgraded their view on large-cap bank stocks to "attractive" from "neutral," contending that more gains in that part of the sector are still to come.
"The market has failed to recognize the dramatic improvement in earnings power at the large banks versus the regionals," the analysts wrote. "We believe this difference in earnings power has not been fully reflected in share prices."
In particular, the Goldman Sachs analysts upgraded Wells Fargo & Co.'s stock to "buy" from "neutral," Comerica's stock to "neutral" from "sell" and added Capital One Financial Corp.'s stock to its "conviction buy" list. Wells rose 6.9%, Comerica, 4.2%, and Capital One, 8.3%.
Other gainers included JPMorgan Chase & Co., which rose 4.6%, Bank of America Corp., 3.8%, PNC Financial Services Group Inc., 4.3%, U.S. Bancorp., 1.9%, and Citigroup Inc., 15 cents, to $4.67.
Among the regionals, SunTrust Banks Inc. rose 3.4%, BB&T Corp., 0.8%, KeyCorp., 1%, Regions Financial Corp., 2.9%, Fifth Third Bancorp, 1.3%, Zions Bancorp., 2.7%, M&T Bank Corp., 0.5%, and Huntington Bancshares Inc., 18 cents, to $4.63.
