Financial stocks and ETFs have been leading the S&P 500’s latest push higher on optimism a fiscal cliff deal can be reached and as Wall Street analysts turn bullish on banks.
Monday’s rally carried the financial shares in the S&P 500 to a two-month high and extended the group’s lead among the index’s 10 sectors this year, WSJ.com reports.
Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLF) is breaking out to its highest level in over a year. The sector ETF is up 27.1% year to date, compared with a 16.2% gain for iShares S&P 500 (NYSEArca: IVV).
On Monday, closely followed analyst Meredith Whitney flipped bullish on the financial sector with upgrades of bank stocks.