Thursday's Financial Winners & Losers: T. Rowe Price

T. Rowe Price(TROW) reported a solid quarter Thursday as other financials also came up strong.

T. Rowe's profit jumped 6% in the first quarter, driving shares up $6.36, or 11.8%, to $60.24. Other investment banks shot up but not based on earnings. Instead, the movement stemmed from a report by an analyst suggesting that the problems in capital markets were reaching an end.

Merrill Lynch (MER) jumped $3.18 to $48.09, Lehman Brothers (LEH) increased $2.69 to $46.38 and Jefferies Group (JEF) rose $2.11 to $16.89.

World Acceptance Corp. (WRLD), a midsized consumer finance company, rose $4.65 to $35.10 after reporting that its quarterly profits came in above analysts' expectations. Income jumped 16% on an increase in demand for the company's tax preparation services.

In other earnings news, Barclays (BCS), the third-largest bank in the U.K., managed to avoid the huge losses recorded by UBS and Credit Suisse, but its profits were well below last year's. The bank began the day trading in negative territory, only to recover halfway through and move up to $36.74 a gain of 64 cents.

The NYSE Financial Sector index charged ahead 165.26 to 7,641.

But it wasn't so positive over at Sovereign Bancorp (SOV), which got a credit rating downgrade by Moody's as a result of first-quarter losses. Additionally, a Friedman Billings Ramsey analyst cut his estimates and price target from $8 to $6. The stock crumbled 10.3% to $7.14.

Reinsurance company Transatlantic Holdings (TRH) saw its profits climb, but its shares fell when it missed Wall Street forecasts. Profit grew 8% due to an absence of significant claims for catastrophes, but shares fell $1.10 to $65.50.