(Reuters) - U. S. stocks were set to gain the most in nearly two weeks late-Monday morning as higher oil prices lifted<br />energy stocks, while investors braced for big banks to kick off the first-quarter earnings season later in the week.<br />JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo are scheduled to report earnings on Thursday<br />and could throw some light on the U. S. banking industry’s performance amid a rally in financial shares since the election of President Donald Trump.<br />Terry Sandven said that The financial sector has been a darling performer since the election<br />and we’ve seen some of that performance retreat in the last couple of weeks,<br />Oil prices rose more than 1 percent, with U. S. crude hitting a more than one-month high, supported by a Libyan oilfield shutdown, tension over a U. S. missile strike on Syria and signs<br />that an OPEC-led output cut is helping to clear excess supplies.<br />The S&P 500 index showed seven 52-week highs and two lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 51 highs and 17 lows.<br />"So what the banks report and what their guidance is will be the primary driver for equity prices over the next week or two."
