Large Banks Move Higher Led by Citigroup (C)

Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLF) opened higher on Friday after positive developments from the EU summit sent shares of large banks higher. In recent weeks investors have been increasingly pessimistic about large banks in the U.S. and many questioned if capital reserves were enough to withstand a major meltdown in Spain. The headlines out of Europe indicate that the officials there are willing to backstop huge losses at banks and more importantly, they will soon have mechanisms available to accomplish this goal. Investors see this as a positive for financials in the U.S. since it makes a 'Lehman Moment' less likely, at least in the short term.

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) and Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) are the two top gainers among large banks, along with Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS). These banks are view by many as some of the weaker ones in the sector, compared to JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) for example, which is higher by 2 percent compared to an average of 4 percent for the banks previously mentioned.

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