Financial Stocks Get a Boost After Strong Jobs Data

Financial stocks got a big boost in premarket trade Friday, after a much better-than-expected October jobs report provided hope that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates sooner rather than later. The SPDR Financial ETF climbed 1.3%, after trading little changed just prior to the jobs data. Among its components, shares of Bank of America Corp. shot up 2.5%, Citigroup Inc. climbed 2.3%, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. ran up 2.2%, Wells Fargo & Co. rallied 1.8% and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. gained 1.9%. Rising interest rates can help boost banks' bottom lines as it could increase net interest margins, which is the spread the banks make from funding longer-term loans with shorter-term borrowings. The Fed's next rate policy meeting is scheduled for Dec. 15 to Dec. 16.