Bank stocks rallied Friday as more banks post better-than-expected earnings.
The KBW Bank Index rose 3.42%, ending the week up 10%. Friday's gains were driven by positive earnings news from banking companies, particularly Citigroup Inc., which posted a smaller first-quarter loss than expected. The New York company said it lost $966 million, or 18 cents a share. The analyst average called for 34-cent loss.
"We're starting to hear more positive commentary from more and more banks, so maybe it's not as bad as we thought," said Robert Patten, an analyst at Regions Financial Corp.'s Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. "I don't know how you trump rising unemployment, but the market is looking through that and saying, if the economy gets better, banks will be the big beneficiaries."
While Citi's news helped lift other bank stocks, its own share price fell 36 cents, to $3.65.
BB&T Corp.'s stock rose 11.2%. The Winston-Salem, N.C., company said Friday that first-quarter net income fell 37% from a year earlier, $318 million, or 48 cents a share, but it beat analysts' estimates by 17 cents a share.
Other gainers Friday included Bank of America Corp., 2.5%; JPMorgan Chase & Co., 0.1%; Wells Fargo & Co., 4.2%; PNC Financial Services Group Inc., 6.5%; SunTrust Banks Inc., 10.3%; and Regions Financial Corp., 7.9%.
First Horizon National Corp.'s stock fell 2.2% as the Memphis company posted its fourth straight quarterly loss Friday. First Horizon lost $82.8 million, or 39 cents a share, in the first quarter. That compared with a $63.1 million loss in the fourth quarter and a $7.9 million gain a year earlier.
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. fell 3.2%, State Street Corp. fell 0.5% and People's United Financial Inc. in Bridgeport, Conn., fell 4.1%.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.07% and the Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.5%.
