Huntington (HBAN), BB&T (BBT), Fifth Third (FITB) Jump on GDP Estimate

Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ:HBAN), BB&T Corp. (NYSE:BBT) and Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) are all up today after the Commerce Department upwardly revised its estimate of U.S. real gross domestic product growth for the fourth quarter.

Also moving up was the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF).

The U.S. economy grew at a 3.1% annualized rate in the fourth quarter, the government said. See economic report on GDP growth.

In other economic indicators Friday, consumer sentiment fell in March to its lowest level in five months, according to a Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey.

Within the financial sector, regional banks were among the strongest performers as Huntington Bancshares Inc. (HBAN), BB&T Corp. (BBT) and Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) all rose more than 1%.

Fifth Third was trading at $13.99, gaining $0.22, or 1.56 percent, as of 12:26 PM EDT. BB&T was trading at $27.26, up $0.59, or 2.23 percent. Huntington Bancshares was at $6.66, gaining $0.16, or 2.54 percent.




Source