Large U.S. banks have announced dividend increases after passing the Federal Reserve's stress test

Large U.S. banks announced dividend increases on Friday after they easily passed the Federal Reserve's annual stress test. JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America were among the big banks to announce dividend increases. Just two days ago, regulators' assessment showed that all 31 banks participating in the test would maintain sufficient capital to withstand the test of the hypothetical recession scenario. Other banks that increased dividends include Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley. JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley also approved tens of billions of dollars in stock buyback plans. The Federal Reserve asked banks to wait until the market closed on Friday to disclose updates to give each company and investors time to digest the results. JPMorgan Chase announced that it would buy back no more than $30 billion in shares, and Morgan Stanley reauthorized a buyback plan of no more than $20 billion. (Global Market Report)