Financials Leading S&P 500 Index Futures Higher

S&P 500 Index futures were trading sharply higher by 17 points at 2049.00 in Thursday's session. After trading higher for the entire after-hours and pre-market session, the rally did not take a breather off the opening bell. At time of writing, they surpassed Wednesday's high (2044.75) mounting a challenge to clear the 2050 level, reaching 2051.25, before falling back to its current level. The index is getting a boost from

as well as rally in the financial sector. Following the passage of the most recent Stress Test,

,

and

are all posting solid gains. The

was trading at $206.26, up $1.76 (about 0.9 percent).