Barclays closes at $7.81 after gaining 0.39%

A quick look at today: after closing at $7.78 on yesterday, Barclays PLC maintained a strong bullish bias that helped the stock close higher at $7.81 today. However, market bears ensured the the British banking colossus topped out at $7.83 and that by the end of the session, the market had marked out a distinct $7.73 to $7.83 range.

• The day's trading volume totalled 8 million shares — slightly under the 21-day average of 9.53 million.

With the opening bell 3 days away, today's session was noteworthy in that Nasdaq built upon its previous close around 12,700 to gain 2.19%, before closing the session at 12,976. Barclays climbed to $7.78 with similar gains seen throughout the Financial Services sector (up 0.157%).

The British banking colossus has fallen back around 16.79% over the past 3 months, from a notable high of $9.35. So far this year, it has been under-performing the Nasdaq by 18.9%. The British banking colossus's market cap currently stands at $30.36 billion with an average daily trading volume of 9.53 million shares.

This rally in Barclays's share price coincided with other financials stocks as American Express gained 4.08%, as it traded at $157.24. Goldman Sachs traded at $332 after closing today's trading day at $323.88 (up 2.51%). The Blackstone Group Inc. was up 2.6%.