Sector movers: Lenders' shares pace gains amid Fed chatter

(ShareCast News) - Banks paced gains in the market on Wednesday amid a bevy of relatively confident Fed speak."The best performing sector has been banks and financials which are leading the gainers on the back of yesterday's hawkish interpretation of Fed Chief Janet Yellen's comments to the Senate Banking Committee on the timing of a potential Fed rate rise, as Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group hit their highest levels since the June Brexit vote," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.In parallel, the Stoxx 600's gauge of lenders' shares tacked on 1.42% to 178.42, while over on the other side of the Pond the KBW index of bank stocks rose 1.84% to 95.94.As regards events Stateside, "financials remain in focus as speculation about higher rates provides a tailwind, with JP Morgan trading at record highs, along with Goldman Sachs, which is just shy of its record high," Hewson added.To take note of in that regard, later in the day - after the close of trading on London markets - the president of the Federal Reserve bank of Philadelphia, Patrick Harker, would tell an audience at La Salle University that three interest rate hikes was likely to be the appropriate path for Federal Reserve policy.On a more 'hawkish' note, the president of the Federal Reserve bank of Boston, Eric Rosengren, would tell a separate audience that the US central bank may have to raise interest rates by more than the median three interest rate hikes which Fed officials had thus far projected. Top performing sectors so far todayBanks 4,501.69 +1.45%Fixed Line Telecommunications 3,559.04 +1.24%Construction & Materials 6,753.52 +1.09%Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 13,797.13 +1.02%Life Insurance 8,076.27 +0.91%Bottom performing sectors so far todayGeneral Retailers 2,391.45 -1.11%Travel & Leisure 8,859.38 -0.51%Electricity 9,113.69 -0.35%Insurance (non-life) 2,799.49 -0.33%Oil & Gas Producers 8,012.70 -0.22%