Citigroup Surges After Passing Stress Test

Citigroup Inc.

shares are trading higher by by $1.70 at $54.03 in Thursday's session. Investors get not enough of the issue following passing the Federal Reserve's latest Stress Test. This has enabled the company to raise its quarterly dividend from $0.01 to $0.05/Share as well as initiate a $7.8B share buyback plan. As a result, MKM Partners incleded Citigroup in its list of five mega banks worth buying. The primary reason being the buyback plan was 10 percent their estimate and dividend hike was in-line with their view. In a volatile session, the issue initially struggled with institutional resistance at the $54.00 level, but shortly after the open, it cleared that level and sent short-sellers scrambling for cover. The ensuing rally went all the way to $54.72 before a major round of profit-taking besieged the issue. Interestingly, the current high coincides with its January 2 high ($54.69). At this time, it has retreated back to the $54.00 and has been unable to get back its intraday highs despite the broad market continuing to move higher.