NEW YORK, March 22, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - US stocks ended the day higher Tuesday as regional banking stocks picked up, with the embattled First Republic Bank recouping some of its losses from earlier this week.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.3 percent to 4,002.87, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.0 percent higher at 32,560.60.

Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.6 percent to close at 11,860.11.

"We haven't heard of any new bank this week" getting into trouble, said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, in an interview with AFP. "That's good news for markets."

The sharp decline of the VIX index, which charts market volatility, suggests markets have calmed a little, he added.

Alongside First Republic's daily gains of almost 30 percent, Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida also built on earlier gains to finish the day up 4.6 percent.

Another regional bank, KeyCorp, ended the day up 9.3 percent.

The rally in stocks on Wall Street comes a day before a crucial interest-rate decision from the US Federal Reserve, which is hoping to balance high inflation with ongoing concerns about the banking sector, after the dramatic decline of Silicon Valley Bank.