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The positive reports on the U.S. economy are seen as the major cause of the stocks rallying.

Bank of America Corp shares on Wednesday hit their highest level in seven months after a Federal Reserve stress test affirmed one of the more troubled U.S. banks had made progress in improving its capital levels.

Citigroup Inc on Wednesday stood by its pledge to reward shareholders, as Wall Street sought to understand why the bank failed to win approval from regulators to increase its dividend or buy back stock.

Whatever buzz came from the post-FOMC statement and catapulted stocks up on Tuesday turned into a hush Wednesday afternoon. Equities started strong but ended with a whimper.

Shares of Citigroup (NYSE: C) fell more than 4 percent Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said the No. 3 U.S. bank flunked a “stress test” of its financial viability.

The inspector general for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said banks involved in the nationwide settlement on foreclosure practices significantly hindered its investigation.

The Dow Jones Industrial average rose 218 points, or 1.8%, to close at 13,177, which was the highest since Dec .31, 2007.

JPMorgan Chase and Co. (NYSE:JPM) announced Tuesday afternoon it would be raising the dividend payout to shareholders and engaging in a sizable stock buyback program, in a show of balance sheet strength coming just days after the bank was green-lighted through the Federal Reserve's now-yearly "stress tests." The markets rallied.

JPMorgan Chase and Co. (NYSE:JPM) announced Tuesday afternoon it would be raising the dividend payout to shareholders and engaging in a sizable stock buyback program, in a show of balance sheet strength coming just days after the bank was green-lighted through the Federal Reserve's now-yearly "stress tests." The markets rallied.

U.S. stocks soared Tuesday in afternoon trading, amid strong reports of retail sales and business inventories and buoyant sentiments from the Federal Reserve.

The Federal Reserve officials decided to keep the near-term interest rates unchanged at ultra-low levels but offered few clues about plans for further easing, as highly anticipated, while the Fed noted recent strength in the labor market and that strains have eased in global financial markets.

JPMorgan Chase & Co is paying the federal government $45 million to settle a lawsuit alleging it charged veterans hidden fees in mortgage refinancings.

At least 50 advisers who managed nearly $12 billion in client assets at Merrill Lynch have left the thundering herd since January 1, based on moves tracked by Reuters.

The government released the fine print of its landmark $25 billion mortgage settlement, and promised to closely police the banks' pledges to bring widespread housing relief, even while letting them dodge admission of wrongdoing.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee has its monthly meeting Tuesday, but no policy changes are expected, economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch say.

The top pre-market NASDAQ gainers are: Tudou Holdings, Ku6 Media Co, Zoll Medical Corp, Orexigen Therapeutics and Meru Networks. The top pre-market losers are: Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Human Genome Sciences, Yongye International, Logitech International and Oracle Corp.

The $25 billion settlement between five large U.S. banks accused of abusive mortgage practices on the one side and federal and state government officials on the other side that was announced Feb. 9 will be filed in federal court on Monday, people familiar with the matter said.

A previously announced $25 billion settlement between five major banks accused of abusive mortgage practices and government officials will be filed in federal court on Monday, people familiar with the matter said late Friday.

Wells Fargo recently announced that it will be instituting a $7 monthly service fee for checking accounts in six eastern states, adding to the 23 states where the fee is already in place. There are a few ways to avoid this fee.

For a while it was just your mother's maiden name, then your first pet, the street you grew up on or the make and model of your first car. As passwords and security questions multiply, so does the potential for things to go wrong, possibly locking you out of your own life.

Bank of America, one of five banks in $25 billion settlement with the government over foreclosure practices, has struck a side deal that will allow it to reduce penalties in return for bigger cuts to borrowers' mortgage balances, the Wall Street Journal said.

Wells Fargo & Co., the bank with the most U.S. branches, is ending free checking in six eastern U.S. states starting in May, expanding a $7 monthly service fee for the use of its basic checking account.

AT&T Inc. is seeking to sell a stake in Yellow Pages in an approximately $1.5 billion deal with private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, Bloomberg reported.

Bank of America, N.A., fraudulently sought to limit home-owner mortgage modifications under the Home Affordable Modification Program so as to avoid millions in losses, says a whistleblower complaint unsealed in federal court Wednesday.

Bank of America NA prevented homeowners from receiving mortgage-loan modifications under a federal program in order to avoid millions of dollars in losses while benefitting from financial incentives for participating in the program, according to a complaint unsealed in federal court Wednesday.

If you expect the Federal Reserve to launch another round of bond buying to stimulate growth at its meeting next week, you're almost certain to be disappointed.

U.S. stocks finished Tuesday with the worst one-day decline so far in 2012 as a sell-off spread from Europe driven by fear of a disorderly default in Greece and a slowdown in global economic growth.

The U.S. government will cut fees on federally insured mortgages and move to expand home-loan relief to military veterans, President Barack Obama announced Tuesday.

Wall Street was set to open lower on Tuesday on renewed concerns that Greece and private bondholders may not meet a looming deadline to complete a debt swap and as caution grew over the global economic outlook after recent weak data.