Bank stocks soared today as the federal government agreed to rescue Citigroup by guaranteeing a pool of $306 billion in troubled assets and injecting $20 billion in new capital.  The KBW Banking Index rose 17.72% and the KBW Regional Banking Index rose 11.78%. The broader S&P 500 Index was up 6.47%.

The Bank Index was led by Citigroup, KeyCorp, and Bank of America, which were up 57.82%, 29.35%, and 27.20%, respectively. Leading the Regional Banking Index were Colonial Bancgroup, Citizens Republic Bancorp, and UCBH Holdings, which were up 31.58%, 25.34%, and 22.49%, respectively. Every member of both the Bank Index and the Regional Banking Index increased today.