iShares Barclays 1-3 Year Treasury Bond, JPMorgan Chase: Money Flow Leaders Markets Data Center: Money Flow Leaders.

Foreign central banks holdings of U.S. Treasuries and agency debt at the Federal Reserve rose in the latest week, data from the U.S. central bank showed on Thursday.

The U.S. Federal Reserve s balance sheet rose in the latest week, Fed data released on Thursday showed. The Fed s balance sheet — a broad gauge of its lending to the financial system — edged up to $2.265 trillion in the week ended March 10 from $2.262 trillion in the prior week.

U.S. banks borrowed less from the Federal Reserve s emergency lending program over the past week, providing further evidence that the strains caused by the financial crisis are easing.

Governments must not put off addressing large debt burdens, because doing so could result in even greater fiscal problems down the road, a top U.S. Federal Reserve official said on Thursday.

President Barack Obama is due to pick Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Janet Yellen as vice chairman of the central bank, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing two people with knowledge of the selection process.

A rally in financial stocks Thursday helped the market extend its grind higher to a third day. The Standard & Poor s 500 index cleared an important hurdle watched by traders when it closed just above its January peak to set a new 17-month high.

Citigroup CEO s bullish comments spark late rally and hand Wall Street third consecutive gain.

Stocks rallied in the final hour of trading Thursday, pushing the S&P to a 17-month high above 1,150. Banks finished strong, with Citi up over 5 percent.

U.S. regional-bank shares add to weekly gains to close higher, while Citigroup advances as investors cheered Chief Executive Vikram Pandit s relatively upbeat outlook.