: U.S. stocks end mostly higher as banks helped buoy S&P 500 after First Citizens deal

U.S. stocks closed mostly higher Monday, as bank shares climbed after First Citizens BancShares Inc. FCNCA agreed to buy failed Silicon Valley Bank’s deposits and loans. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA finished 0.6% higher, while the S&P 500 SPX gained 0.2% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite COMP slipped 0.5%, according to preliminary data from FactSet. Regional and big banks helped buoy the S&P 500, with First Republic Bank FRC among the index’s top-performing stocks, FactSet data show. Shares of major Wall Street banks such as Bank of America Corp. BAC, Citigroup Inc. C, Wells Fargo & Co. WFC and JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM also saw sharp gains in Monday’s trading session.

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