Financial Winners and Losers: Citigroup

(Updated share prices throughout.)

Financial stocks closed higher Thursday, after an executive suite shake-up at Citigroup (C Quote) and an upgrade for Goldman Sachs (GS Quote).

Citi continued to shuffle its top ranks by promoting CFO Edward "Ned" Kelly to vice chairman and giving him additional responsibilities in strategy and M&A. Former CFO Gary Crittenden is leaving the company.

The changes come on top of other management changes last week, following the departure of Ajay Banga, the former head of Citi's Asia-Pacific operations. Banga took a position with MasterCard (MA Quote). Citi shares closed up seven cents to $2.69.

Goldman Sachs shares added 3.4% to $143.21, after Merrill Lynch analyst Guy Moszkowski gave the company's stock a buy rating, saying in a report that the company continues to benefit from reduced competition in trading, allowing it to capture higher margins.

Bank of America (BAC Quote) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote) shares were rising, after a Reuters report that they were changing some customers with fixed credit card rates to variable rates. The change comes before new laws limiting what banks can charge go into effect, Reuters says.

BofA shares added 1.1% to $11.97 and JPMorgan shares were climbing 2.8% to $33.62. Wells Fargo (WFC Quote) shares added 1.6% to $23.28.

The NYSE Financial Sector Index closed up 1.4% to 3714.26.

On the flip side, American International Group (AIG Quote) shares fell 27.6% to $9.48 after a Citigroup analyst said the stock may go to zero, due to the risk of new losses on credit default swaps and its shedding of assets at low values. The company reportedly is in discussions with MetLife (MET Quote) about selling its foreign life-insurance unit American Life Insurance.

MetLife shares added 2.7% to $27.63.