Citigroup shares rise on hopes for strong results

Citigroup Inc shares surged to a three-month high on Tuesday on expectations of strong quarterly results, one day after Goldman Sachs Group Inc posted surprisingly strong earnings.

Citigroup's stock was being boosted by what Goldman announced and what Wells Fargo announced last week, said Ken Krawford, senior portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management.

Citi's CEO (Vikram Pandit) was the first one last month to say they were profitable in January and February, so maybe investors think there is something good for Citi in the air, he said.

The bank's shares were up 7.11 percent at $4.07 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange after earlier rising as high as $4.48, their best level since mid-January. The stock has risen fourfold after touching an all-time low of 97 cents in early March.

The third-largest U.S. bank by assets is scheduled to report first-quarter results on Friday. Analysts expect a quarterly loss of 33 cents per share, excluding items, according to Reuters Estimates.

Last week, Wells Fargo & Co , the fourth-largest U.S. bank, said it would post a record $3 billion first-quarter profit. Goldman Sachs' better-than-expected quarterly results came after the stock market close on Monday.

In March, Pandit said Citigroup had been profitable in the first two months of 2009 and had had its best quarter-to-date performance since the third quarter of 2007, easing concerns about the bank's prospects for survival.

Citigroup, which has received $45 billion as part of the U.S. government's bailout of the financial sector, has reported five straight quarterly losses totaling $37.5 billion, largely due to bad loans and toxic assets.

(Reporting by Juan Lagorio; editing by John Wallace, Toni Reinhold)