NEW YORK - US stocks ended the day higher on Tuesday as regional banking stocks picked up, with the embattled First Republic Bank recouping some of its losses from earlier this week.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.3 per cent to 4,002.87, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1 per cent higher at 32,560.60.

Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.6 per cent to close at 11,860.11.

“We haven’t heard of any new bank this week” getting into trouble, said Mr Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, in an interview with AFP.

“That’s good news for markets.”

The sharp decline of the VIX index, which charts market volatility, suggests markets have calmed a little, he added.

Alongside First Republic’s daily gains of almost 30 per cent, Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida also built on earlier gains to finish the day up 4.6 per cent.

Another regional bank, KeyCorp, ended the day up 9.3 per cent.

The rally in stocks on Wall Street comes a day before a crucial interest-rate decision from the US Federal Reserve, which is hoping to balance high inflation with ongoing concerns about the banking sector, after the dramatic decline of Silicon Valley Bank. AFP