US stocks rise as Silicon Valley Bank deal pushes regional lenders higher

• US stocks climbed Monday, helped by shares of regional banks which rallied on First Citizens' deal to buy SVB.
• First Citizens agreed to buy the failed bank, taking over 17 branches and buying $72 billion worth of its assets.

US stocks climbed Monday, pushed higher by shares of regional lenders following First Citizens Bank's purchase of Silicon Valley Bank on Sunday.

First Citizens will take over 17 branches of SVB, and bought $72 billion of the failed lender's assets.

The Raleigh, North Carolina-based firm has bought more than 20 other banks since 2008, according to Bloomberg data, with its most recent purchase being CIT Group, which it bought for $2 billion in January.

Regional bank stocks rallied Monday morning, with First Republic leading the way with a 27% gain. PacWest shares climbed about 10%.

The broader market remains volatile following the Fed's 25-basis-point rate hike last Wednesday. Bond yields last week tumbled as traders began pricing in higher odds that the central bank will start cutting interest rates this year as the economy slows.

"Powell was confident in the strength of the banking sector last week, though he was clear that regional bank turmoil could weigh on the overall economy, which may be what many market participants need to hear to bring down their arguably too high valuations," Chris Larkin, managing director with Morgan Stanley's E*Trade wrote in a note Monday.

"While the market's short-term moves following hikes in this recent tightening cycle have been anything but uniform, bulls can cling to the fact the SPX's two-week return was positive five of the eight times."

Here's where US indexes stood at the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Monday:

• S&P 500: 3,993.25, up 0.56%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 32,491.83, up 0.79% (254.30 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 11,862.84, up 0.32%

Here's what else is going on:

• Here's everything to know about First Citizens' purchase of Silicon Valley Bank.
• First Republic stock is skyrocketing, alongside other regional bank names.
• Terra cofounder Daniel Shin is being targeted for arrest again in South Korea.
• SVB's failure will cost $20 billion, almost a sixth of the pool of funds that insures US depositors.
• Saudi National Bank chairman quit after his comments sparked turmoil at Credit Suisse.
• Elon Musk sounded the alarm on real estate and mortgage defaults.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• Oil prices climbed, with West Texas Intermediate up 1.80% to $70.54 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 1.6% to $76.14 a barrel
• Gold edged lower 1.8% to $1,948.70 per ounce
• The 10-year Treasury yield ticked higher 11 basis points to 3.494%
• Bitcoin moved lower 0.23% to $27,785.86