Banks Showing Signs Of Life

The U.S. stock market is soaring again on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping more than 200 points. Among the leaders on the session have been banking stocks, which have been beaten up in 2011. Is this the bottom for the financial sector? It may be too early to tell, but many leading bank stocks have moved well off of their lows from a couple of weeks ago and are adding to those gains on Monday.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) appears to be turning around after Warren Buffett's investment, with a gain of 6.31% to $8.24. J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM) is up 3.23% to $37.37, while Citigroup (NYSE: C) shares have surged almost 4% to $30.98. The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLF) is up 3.64% to $13.23.