Bank stocks led the market higher today after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress that the recession may end this year and that there are no plans to nationalize banks. The KBW Banking Index rose 13.59% and the KBW Regional Banking Index rose 7.35%. The S&P 500 Index was up 4.01%.

The Bank Index was led by M&I, Capital One, and Regions Financial Corporation, which were up 25.98%, 23.88%, and 22.30%, respectively. Leading the Regional Banking Index were Frontier Financial Corporation, South Financial Group, and Colonial Bancgroup, which were up 42.98%, 26.67%, and 21.43%, respectively.