It started with worries about First Republic Bank and that ultimately led to a death spiral of the company as it reported much larger deposit outflows than anticipated. Shares hit $16 on Monday and are finishing the week around $3.50 with an FDIC takeover looming.

So what changed even as sentiment worsened? Mainly, the pain at FRC didn’t spread to other regional banks and that’s a case I made early in the week. The problem was that dip buyers didn’t want to wade in until mega-cap tech earnings were released. Even after strong Microsoft earnings, the market was skittish.

When Meta later had great earnings as well and some others were solid, that was enough to turn the tide and quickly led to FOMC. That feeling extended today despite some modest warnings about data centers from Amazon.

Here are the closing changes in North American markets today:

• S&P 500 +0.9% — up 39 points to 4192
• DJIA +0.8%
• Nasdaq Comp +0.7%
• Russell 2000 +1.0%
• Toronto TSX Comp +0.5%

On the week:

• S&P 500 +0.9%
• DJIA +0.9%
• Nasdaq Comp +1.3%
• Russell 2000 -1.3%
• Toronto TSX Comp -0.3%

On the month:

• S&P 500 +1.5%
• DJIA +2.5%
• Nasdaq Comp flat

Seasonally, April is the strongest month of the year and it’s another victory for that trade but it certainly wasn’t smooth sailing.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.