news/ATVI/2023.03.24/US STOCKS-Wall Street ends green as Fed officials soothe bank jitters.txt

NEW YORK, March 24 (Reuters) -U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, marking the end of a
tumultuous week as U.S. Federal Reserve officials calmed
investor fears over a potential liquidity crisis in the banking
sector.While all three major U.S. stock indexes started the
session sharply lower on the heels of a sell-off among European
banks, those losses reversed by closing bell, repeating the
intraday roller coaster ride of recent sessions.At the conclusion of a volatile week, marked by a Fed
interest rate hike and mounting worries over the health of the
banking system, all three indexes notched weekly gains."Equity markets drifted higher as concerns lingered
about another banking flare up in the U.S. or abroad," said
David Carter, managing director at JPMorgan Private Bank in New
York. "Wall Street is taking its cues from Washington and other
capitals as it relates to interest rates and banking
regulations."In separate appearances, three regional Fed bank presidents
said that their confidence that the banking system was not
facing a liquidity crisis is what led to the decision to
implement a 25 basis point policy rate hike on Wednesday.But while Fed officials continue to see additional rate
hikes as a strong possibility, financial markets are now
favoring the likelihood of a no hike at all at the conclusion of
its next policy meeting in May."The Fed may be jaw-boning a bit as it says more rate
increases may be coming this year," JPMorgan's Carter added. "It
helps both their inflation goal and suggests confidence in our
economic system."Worries over potential contagion beyond regional banks
threatening to spread to their larger peers was sparked by a
sell-off of European bank shares.That sell-off was prompted by the rising cost of insuring
Deutsche Bank's debt, expressed by its credit default swaps,
coming on the heels of the state-sponsored buyout of Credit
Suisse, has fed into the narrative of sector-wide stress.But those worries eased by mid-afternoon.While the S&P Bank index ended modestly lower, the
KBW Regional Bank index closed sharply higher.According to preliminary data, the S&P 500
gained 22.63 points, or 0.57%, to end at 3,971.35 points,
while the Nasdaq Composite gained 36.76 points, or
0.31%, to 11,824.16. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
rose 137.48 points, or 0.43%, to 32,242.73.U.S.-traded shares of Deutsche Bank slid.Shares of large U.S. banks JPMorgan Chase & Co
and Wells Fargo pared their losses but ended lower,
while Bank of America flipped green.Regional lenders PacWest Bancorp, Western
Alliance Bancorp and Truist Financial Corp also
reversed earlier dips, but First Republic Bank closed
red.Activision Blizzard jumped after the UK
competition regulator dropped some competition concerns in the
Microsoft-Activision deal.
(Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Amruta
Khandekar and Ankika Biswas in Bangalore
Editing by Marguerita Choy)