Bank and thrift stocks added to during morning tradingTuesday, July 12. Around midday, the SNL U.S. Bank Index advanced 1.47% to393.45 and the SNL U.S. Thrift Index gained 0.92% to 798.11.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.50% to18,318.19, the S&P 500 increased 0.60% to 2,149.98 and the Nasdaq compositeindex rose 0.66% to 5,021.81.
In banking news, JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Jamie Dimon disclosed in anopinion piece in The New York Timesthat the company will raisethe minimum pay for 18,000 employees over the next three years.
CitigroupInc. climbed 2.28% to $43.26 in morning trading Tuesday. VenezuelanPresident Nicolas Maduro said Monday that Citibank NA the government'sforeign currency accounts within 30 days, according to a report by Reuters. Aseparate Reuters report confirmed that Citi will stop its correspondent bankingand servicing for some accounts in Venezuela after conducting a periodic riskmanagement review.
WellsFargo & Co. rose 0.46% to $48.30 and advanced 2.54% to$13.55.
Among notable movers, Cleveland-based advanced 2.27% to $11.48,Synovus Financial Corp.climbed 2.00% to $29.56 and Pittsfield, Mass.-based rose1.32% to $27.71.
In the thrift space, Westbury, N.Y.-based gained 1.65% to $15.10; Lake Success, N.Y.-based climbed 1.42%to $15.32; Cleveland-based TFSFinancial Corp. (MHC) rose 0.62% to $17.80; and San Diego-basedBofI Holding Inc.went up 1.73% to $18.53.
In economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department'sCensus Bureau reported that May 2016 sales of merchant wholesalers, exceptmanufacturers' sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonalvariations and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $435.5 billion,up 0.5% from the revised April level, but down 2.5% from the May 2015 level.
Marketprices and index values are current as of the time of publication and aresubject to change.