BofA (BAC), MetLife (MET), Citigroup (C), AIG (AIG), KeyCorp Jump Thursday

Shares of bank stocks soared Thursday, as The Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca:XLF), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), MetLife (NYSE:MET), Citigroup (NYSE:C), AIG (NYSE:AIG), KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) were all up for on positive news.

American International Group rose because of its huge offering. Shares of AIG jumped 21 cents, to $37.51. The market also liked that it hired Jeffrey M. Farber of Gamco Investors as deputy chief financial officer.

MetLife shares surged on news of a share sale connected to the company's acquisition of AIG's Alico business.

KeyCorp was up on news they were holding talks with Toronto Dominion Bank (TD) over the possibility of a merger.

Citigroup increased from news bids on its CitiFinancial are garnering more attention.

Both Bank of America and Citigroup were positively impacted on news they were both had cut lending in Europe in 2010 in light of the ongoing sovereign debt crisis and uncertainties there.