Financial shares take heart after bipartisan overhaul hits a wall

NEW YORK - U.S. stocks picked up traction late Thursday for a third straight day of gains after Citigroup Inc. said the bank is on its way to sustainable profitability and as Democrats gave up on a bipartisan effort to overhaul financial regulation.

"An apparent lack of progress on the financial regulatory front prompted investors to get more optimistic on financials," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 44.51 points, or 0.4 percent, at 10,611.84, with 26 of its 30 components advancing, led by technology bellwether IBM, up 1.6 percent.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.63 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,150.24 with financial shares up the most among the index's 10 industry groups.

Three companies advanced for every two that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where trading volume neared 4.9 billion.

Citigroup Inc. shares rose 5.6 percent as Chief Executive Vikram Pandit told investors they should be able to cover future credit losses in the company's troubled consumer lending business.

Regional banks extended gains after reports that Britain's Barclays was on the prowl for a U.S. retail bank acquisition. Zions Bancorp gained 4.6 percent, and KeyCorp rose 4.2 percent.

The Nasdaq composite gained 9.51 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,368.46.

On Capitol Hill, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said he would offer his own overhaul of financial regulation after failing to get bipartisan agreement.

"There isn't a lot of time left to complete bank reform this year," Dodd told reporters of his decision to put aside his hopes of introducing a bipartisan bill in favor of a Democratic one.