NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / December 20, 2016 / The stocks markets have been on a tear since the Presidential Election. On Monday, the S&P 500 Index closed at 2,262.53, up 10.7 percent year-to-date, while the Dow closed at 19,883.06, up 14.1 percent year-to-date. Financials have been amongst the largest gainers in the market recently as the general consensus is that a Trump Presidency would loosen financial regulations and raise interest rates.

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As of November 21st, the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) was up over 11 percent since Trump was announced President on November 9th. Banks and insurers were responsible for 73 percent of the S&P 500's rise from Election Day to the close of trading on Friday, November 18th. Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo alone were responsible for over 33 percent of the S&P 500's rise over the same dates, according to data from S&P Dow Jones Indices.

"Over the last five years, the primary headwind to higher earnings and profitability has been the low interest rate environment and flat yield curve," RBC Capital Markets said in a report to clients. "Under a pro-growth fiscal policy of lower taxes and increased government spending, we expect the Federal Reserve to start normalizing interest rates beginning in December. Therefore, the headwind of the last five years should turn into a tailwind."

RDInvesting Takes a Closer Look at Some Banking Stocks

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC)

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Bank of America's shares declined 0.79 percent to close at $22.48 a share Monday. The stock traded between $22.33 and $22.72 on volume of 97.51 million shares traded. The company currently offers investors an annualized dividend of $0.30 per share for a dividend yield of roughly 1.33 percent. In its latest quarterly regulatory filing, Bank of America has stated that it is well positioned for net interest income to benefit from higher rates and would add $5.3 billion of benefit to net interest income over the next 12 months for 100 bps upward parallel shift in interest rate curve with 60 percent of the benefit attributed to change in short term rates. Shares of Bank of America have gained approximately 33.6 percent year-to-date and are up roughly 12.4 percent in the past month.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C)

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Citigroup's shares declined 0.15 percent to close at $59.66 a share Monday. The stock traded between $58.92 and $59.78 on volume of 17.65 million shares traded. The company currently offers investors an annualized dividend of $0.64 per share for a dividend yield of roughly 1.07 percent. Zacks Investment Research has recently upgraded Citigroup's rating to "buy" from "hold". Zacks has a price target of $67.00 on the stock. Consensus estimate for the company's stock is "outperform" with median target price of $63. Citigroup reported a net of $3.8 billion, or $1.24 per diluted share, income for the third quarter 2016, compared to a net income of $4.2 billion, or $1.31 per diluted share, for the third quarter 2015. Shares of Citigroup have gained approximately 15.3 percent year-to-date and are up roughly 7.6 percent in the past month.

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Disclaimer: This article is written by an independent contributor of RDInvesting.com and reviewed by Hemal K. Gandhi, a CFA® charter holder. RDInvesting.com is neither a registered broker dealer nor a registered investment advisor. For more information please read our full disclaimer at www.rdinvesting.com/disclaimer.

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SOURCE: RDInvesting.com