- Financial stocks gain for the third day ahead of Q2 earnings reports, which kick off later this week. The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLF) gains 2.3% in midafternoon trading, while the S&P Banks Select Industry Index also climbs 2.3%.
- Bank of America (BAC +3.6%) logged the largest gain of the big U.S. banks, while New York Community Bancorp (NYCB +3.5%) rose the most among regional banks.
- Friday will be a big day for bank earnings: Citigroup (C +2.7%), Wells Fargo (WFC +1.9%), JPMorgan (JPM +3.2%), and PNC Financial(PNC +2.3%) all report quarterly earnings.
- Other gainers for today: BofI Holdings (BOFI +2.9%), SunTrust Banks (STI +3.4%), KeyCorp (KEY +3.1%), Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK +2.9%), and BB&T (BBT +2.8%).
- For the past month, the S&P Banks Select Industry Index is down 2.6%, but it's up 3.4% year-to-date.
- The optimism for financial stocks appears to be global. Royal Bank of Canada (RY +0.8%), Bank of Montreal (BMO +0.7%), and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM +0.7%) rose. The only major Canadian bank to decline is Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD -0.2%).
- HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) (HSBC +1.6%), Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) (CS +2.2%), and Barclays (LON:BARC) (BCS +1.2%) lead overseas-based banks higher.
- Investors also seem optimistic about credit card companies as American Express (AXP +1.5%), Synchrony Financial (SYF +3.3%), Capital One (COF +4.1%), Discover Financial (DFS +2%), and Alliance Data Systems (ADS +1.4%) all gaining more than 1%.
- Previously: Futures build on last week's gains (July 9)
- Now read: Featured Stocks In June's Dividend Growth Model Portfolio
Original article