Financial stocks finish week higher

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) � Financial stocks closed higher Friday for a weekly gain, boosted by strength in banks and rising optimism about Greece getting its second bailout next week.

Leading the sector was Zions Bancorp ZION ,�shares of which closed up 3.7% on Friday following the regional bank�s investor day on Thursday. The Salt Lake City-based bank had told investors it has enough capital and liquidity to repay obligations under the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program. Shares are up 8.1% for the week.

Click to Play Europe banks: Hands off U.S. assets

Why European banks, despite facing financial difficulties, do not plan to sell off U.S. properties. (AP file photo: Mark Lennihan.)

Shares of Wells Fargo & Co. WFC �finished up 2.4% following a report that the bank�s brokerage unit poached six financial advisers from Morgan Stanley MS . The advisers had managed a combined $570 million in client assets at Morgan Stanley�s Smith Barney unit. Read more on Wells Fargo.

Other gainers among regional banks included Comerica Inc. CMA , Huntington Bancshares Inc. HBAN , KeyCorp KEY , Regions Financial Corp. RF , M&T Bank Corp. MTB , and Fifth Third Bancorp. FITB �

The SPDR S&P Bank ETF KBE rose 0.5%, compared with a 0.7% gain for the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF XLF , which tracks financials included in the S&P 500 Index.� The Bank ETF is 2.5% higher on the week, while the broader Financial ETF is up 1.5% for the week.

Optimism about Greece drove the broader market momentum. The country was seen as being closer to getting its second round of bailout funds next week after the European Central Bank reportedly started swapping out its Greek bond holdings. Read more on Greece, ECB.

Meanwhile, shares of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. JPM �climbed 1.2% after failed bank Washington Mutual Inc. �said a U.S. bankruptcy court confirmed a plan to set up a $7 billion liquidating trust to pay out allowed claims. Dow Jones Industrial Average component J.P. Morgan acquired Washington Mutual when the bank failed in 2008.

Fellow blue chip Bank of America Corp. BAC , saw shares fall 0.9% following a report that the company could sell its Texas retail-branch network and private-wealth manager U.S. Trust to raise capital if the economy takes a severe downturn.

As for the Dow�s other two financial components: Shares of American Express Co. AXP �declined less than 0.1% as Traveler Cos. TRV �rose 0.7%.

Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS �rose 1% after its private-equity unit and Advent International agreed to buy credit-score provider TransUnion Corp. for more than $3 billion. Read more on TransUnion deal.

Also Friday, shares of Capital One Financial Corp. COF �declined 0.9%. The company completed the acquisition of ING Direct from ING Groep ING , which received $6.3 billion in cash and holds a 9.7% ownership stake in Capital One.