Bank Stocks Lead Wall Street Rally

Bank stocks led a rally on Wall Street on Wednesday as investors regained confidence in the regional banking sector, while also seeing improved sentiment for big banks on optimism that a debt ceiling solution is forthcoming.

Shares of regional banks made significant gains Wednesday after Western Alliance reported its deposits are increasing. In a regulatory filing Tuesday, Western Alliance reported its deposit balance stabilized in March and then grew by more than $3 billion from March 31 through May 12. Western Alliance shares soared 10.2% higher on the news, recouping nearly all its losses suffered since mid-April.

The deposit update from Western Alliance comes after rumors that the bank was exploring strategic options, including a potential sale. That, combined with PacWests confirmation that it is exploring options, kicked off a wave of selling in the regional bank sector over the past two weeks.

Shares of other beaten down regional lenders also rallied on the news. PacWest shares surged higher by 21.7%, KeyCorp added 8.6% and Comerica gained 12.3%. On a broader measure, the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF finished the day 7.4% higher.

Wall Streets biggest banks also rallied on Wednesday on investor optimism that a debt ceiling solution will be reached by lawmakers in the coming weeks. Gains for the big banks were led by Wells Fargo, with shares rising by 5.4%. JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs also saw moves higher, gaining 3.1% and 2.9% respectively. Bank of America shares were up by 4.4% on the day.

Above all, the S&P 500 financial sector rose by 2.1%, matched by a similar gain from the energy sector, with the consumer discretionary sector only slightly behind with a 2% gain.