Stocks in the United States posted their best day in four months on Tuesday after Citigroup said it was profitable in the first two months of 2009.
Financials rose 15% after Citigroup chief executive Vikram Pandit stated in a memo to staff of what was once the largest bank in the United States, that he was confident about its capital strength.
In addition, House Financial Services Committee chairman Rep. Barney Frank said he is hopeful the Securities and Exchange Commission will reimpose the "uptick" rule in about a month.
The rule slows the pace of short selling, or bets that a stock will fall, and could help calm volatility of markets.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 379.44 points, or 5.8%, to 6,926.49.
Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 43.07 points, or 6.37%, to 719.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 89.64 points, or 7.07%, to 1,358.28.
The last time the S&P rose this much was after the federal
government decided to rescue Citigroup for the first time in late November, when it agreed to invest $US20 billion of new capital into the bank to avert a collapse.
Shares of Citigroup jumped 38.1% to $US1.45.
Other bank shares also rallied: Bank of America was up almost 28% at $US4.79, and Wells Fargo was up 18.5% at $US11.81. JPMorgan rose nearly 23% to $US19.50.
Shares in technology companies also rose: Apple Inc was up 6.6% at $US88.63; Microsoft gained 8.8% to $US16.48 and Qualcomm added 7.2% to $US35.36.
Trading was heavy on the New York Stock Exchange, with about 2.19 billion shares changing hands - above last year's estimated daily average of 1.49 billion.
About 2.39 billion shares were traded on the Nasdaq - above last year's daily average of 2.28 billion.
