stocks move into positive territory on report of a potential capital infusion for first republic as the health of the us banking sector remains in focus us bank stocks reversed course and rose thursday after a report surfaced of a possible capital infusion in the works for first republic bank and treasury secretary janet yellen praised the strength of the financial system the wall street journal reported that morgan stanley jpmorgan chase  co and others are considering ways to provide financial support for first republic bank frc meanwhile us treasury secretary janet yellen plans to tell senators today that the us banking system is on solid footing and that americans can be confident about their deposits according to prepared testimony for her appearance before the senate finance committee former treasury secretary larry summers told cnn that the current situation is not another global financial crisis like the one that shook the world after lehman brothers collapsed nearly 15 years ago i dont think this is a time for panic or alarm summers said this is not 2008 where people needed to be worried about whether they could get their money from the atm machine it absolutely is not that first republic frc tumbled another 20 reports surfaced its exploring its strategic options including a potential sale of the company the stock fell below its alltime low of 2248 but then rose off its lows after the the wall street journal report concerns around the banks solvency continue to swirl in the wake of the failures of silicon valley bank signature bank and silvergate bank in the past week at last check first republic has fallen 77 in the past week in midday action thursday jpmorgan chase  co jpm rose 15 morgan stanley ms gained 21 and citigroup inc c moved higher by 09 bank of america corp bac advanced by 14 and wells fargo  co wfc rose 13 meanwhile credit suisse groups csgneb stock rose 32 after it said it lined up 54 billion in credit from the swiss national bank goldman sachs group inc gs rose by 06 the wall street journal reported that goldman sachs had underestimated the danger that a proposed 225 billion capital raise at silicon valley bank could spark a crisis of confidence and a further run on deposits svb went out of business on friday sparking widespread concerns in the sector meanwhile david konrad the managing director of kbw said thursday that the failures of silicon valley bank silvergate bank and signature bank in the past week are likely to result in increased regulations over time that may in turn affect industry profitability sen elizabeth warren on wednesday reiterated her criticism of the 2018 easing of doddfrank rules for small and midsize banks and joined with dozens of fellow democratic lawmakers to introduce a bill that would scrap that rollback western alliance bancorps wal stock fell 98 after creditrating agency fitch ratings placed the companys debt and deposit ratings on rating watch negative fitch analysts said current market conditions have created liquidity stresses outside the baseline assumptions the ratings agency said its considering the assignment of a negative or stable outlook for the bank depending on market conditions and the impact on the banks deposit franchise longterm earning power and capitalization fitch noted that western alliance bancorp reported cash reserves of 25 billion in a march 13 filing the companys cash is equivalent to about 47 of total deposits reported as of dec 31 the bank also communicated moderate deposit outflows and insured deposits in excess of 50 of total deposits fitch said the ratings agency also said the federal reserves new bank term funding program provides a further liquidity backstop at favorable terms for western alliance this program set up after the collapse of two us banks last week could see up to 2 trillion of use according to a new analysis by jpmorgan jpmorgan analyst nikolaos panigirtzoglou said six regional banks on their own have a combined 460 billion of uninsured deposits some 2 trillion is the par amount of bonds held by us banks outside the five largest charles schwab corp schw dropped by 16 executives and directors at schwab bought nearly 7 million worth of the financialservices companys beatendown stock tuesday and wednesday in an apparent vote of confidence in the companys ability to weather the ongoing bank rout jefferies analyst ken usdin said in a note to clients thursday that he had met with citigroup chief financial officer mark mason and that the company remains in a strong position despite a more uncertain operating environment citi is sticking to its target for a return on average tangible common shareholders equity rotce of 11 to 12 he said rotce is calculated by dividing net earnings applicable to common shareholders by average monthly tangible common shareholders equity citi continues to benefit from high capital levels ample liquidity and sticky operational deposits usdin said while citi is mindful of the more uncertain operating environment and current volatility the banks overall strategic plan is intact including its divestiture strategy growth priorities and cost reduction plans usdin said the kbw nasdaq bank index rose 08 and the financial select sector spdr exchangetraded fund xlf moved up by 15 also readnew fed bank facility could see up to 2 trillion of usage jpmorgan analysts say this content was created by marketwatch which is operated by dow jones  co marketwatch is published independently from dow jones newswires and the wall street journal