Rally On ( STI, MET, ZION, GS, FXCM, CLF, FRAN, LSI, PSUN, C, KEY )

Stocks Extend Rally On Stress Tests (STI, MET, ZION, GS, FXCM, CLF, FRAN, LSI, PSUN, C, KEY)
Stocks opened higher for the sixth straight session on Wednesday boosted by upbeat retail sales of February and as Fed remarked that the U.S. economy is expected to recover smoothly. Also supporting today’s gain is positive bank stress-tests, where 15 of 19 banks passed the tests.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 17 points, or 0.10%, at 13,194, The S&P 500 SPX was almost flat at 1,396 and The Nasdaq Composite climbed 2 points to 3,042.22.
Yesterday, stocks ended sharply higher with major indices hitting multi-year highs, including the Nasdaq at 12-year high, S&P 500 at 4-year highs and The Dow at 5 years high. Late hour buying was seen after JPMorgan Chase & Co.(NYSE:JPM) announced an increase in dividend and authorizing a new stock-buyback program — after receiving the green light from the Federal Reserve about its capital levels.
Yesterday, after the closing bell, the Fed released the results of the latest round of stress tests, where four banks couldn’t met the threshold target of 5% (Tier 1 capital ratio) including Citigroup Inc.(NYSE:C), missed by 0.10%. The other three financial institutions that did not pass the Fed's hypothetical stress tests were Ally Financial, SunTrust Banks, Inc.(NYSE:STI)and Metlife Inc(NYSE:MET).
Shares of Citigroup gapped down over 4% and Metlife Inc(NYSE:MET) lost 4.84% to $37.55.
However, SunTrust Banks, Inc.(NYSE:STI) shares jumped 2.83% after early fall.
Among gains in the financial include, Zions Bancorporation(NASDAQ:ZION) soared 6.77% as the bank said it won't have to raise equity in order to repay its $1.4B of TARP aid., KeyCorp(NYSE:KEY) added over 1% after announcing that it will buy back $344 million in stock and said its board will evaluate an increase in the dividend.
In earnings, FXCM Inc(NYSE:FXCM) shares soared over 165 after the company reported better than estimated fourth-quarter results. The company earned $20.7 million, or 28 cents a share on revenue of $108.8 million, topping analysts’ estimates of 17 cents per share on revenue of $104.3 million.
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.(NYSE:GS) shares slumped 3.32% to $120.40 after it announced that executive director and a manager of its derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa resigned on Wednesday and sharply criticized the firm in the New York Times.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc(NYSE:CLF) is gaining over 6% as the company announced that it would give 123% more quarterly dividend, which came at 62.5 cents a share.
Francesca's Holdings Corp(NASDAQ:FRAN) is also inching higher over 12% as the company posted superior than projected fourth quarter results and also provided impressive first quarter outlook late Tuesday. The company posted profit of $8.4 million or $0.19 a share on revenue of $61.7 million, ahead of analysts’ estimates of 16 cents a share on revenues of $57.16 million.
LSI Corporation(NYSE:LSI) climbed 6.26% after the company lifted its outlook for the first quarter to 12 cents and 16 cents per share on revenue of $585 million to $615 million, from 9 cents and 15 cents per share on revenue in a range of $550 million to $590 million.
Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc.(NASDAQ:PSUN) shares slumped 14.50% after the company projected wider than estimated losses in the current quarter.