End Sharply Higher Ahead Of Q3 Bank Earnings

A rally in bank stock Thursday was bullish for the overall market on optimism that banks’ Q3 earnings results will beat expectations.  Q3 results begin Friday with quarterly earnings from  $JPMorgan (JPM.US)$ , $Citigroup (C.US)$ , $Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.US)$ , $Morgan Stanley (MS.US)$ , and U.S. Bancorp.

Optimism about Q3 bank earnings sparked a rally in bank stocks Thursday.  $Blackrock (BLK.US)$, $Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB.US)$ , $Huntington Bancshares (HBAN.US)$ , and $Bank of America (BAC.US)$ closed up more than +6%.  Also, $JPMorgan (JPM.US)$ closed up more than +5% to lead gainers in the Dow Jones Industrials.  In addition, $U.S. Bancorp (USB.US)$ , $Lincoln National (LNC.US)$ , $Bank of New York Mellon (BK.US)$ , and $Citigroup (C.US)$  closed up more than +5%.