A Republican victory would be a boost for financial firms, from big banks like JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC), to mid-sized and smaller institutions, such as SunTrust Banks Inc (STI) Cullen Frost (CFR).
"I would expect the financial stocks to trade up under a Romney administration because the regulatory environment will probably be less aggressive," said Jim Russell, chief equity strategist as U.S. Bank Wealth Management.
Romney has pledged to get rid of the Dodd-Frank Act, which is aimed at reining in the risky practices on Wall Street that led to the 2008 financial crisis.
Even if Romney isn't able to repeal the reform legislation through Congress, he could appoint new leaders to the regulatory agencies that interpret and implement Dodd-Frank and that could loosen up some of the more strict provisions, said Russell.
