US Financial – Banks lead another week of stock market gains

Category Finance | Sunday, March 14th, 2010

U.S. stocks rose, pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index to a 17-month high, as Citigroup led a rally among banks and report data boosted confidence that the economic recovery is sustainable.

Citigroup rallied 13 percent on speculation that the U.S. government may sell its stake and on chief executive Vikram Pandit’s statement that the bank will be consistently profitable.

American International Group, the bailed-out insurer, surged 22 percent as it sold a division to MetLife for $15.5 billion. Home Depot rose 2 percent and McDonald’s gained 2.9 percent as a U.S. retail sales report showed an unexpected increased in February.

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