The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 148.23 points at 12,040.16, the first time it ended a trading above 12,000 since just before the financial crisis in June 2008.

Bank stocks were up nearly across the board. Bank of America ($7.17 0.19%), JPMorgan Chase ($34.26 0.25%), Citigroup ($27.15 0.23%), and Wells Fargo ($31.74 0.07%) all showed gains days after turmoil in the Middle East sent stocks tumbling.

Nearly all of the major lenders reported improved 2010 earnings from the year before, though BofA saw a loss in the fourth quarter on mortgage repurchase and warranty settlements with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

A blog post on The Wall Street Journal gives some facts about the milestone and tempers calls of a recovery. The Dow remains 15% below the closing record of 14,164.53 set in October 2007.

Even public mortgage companies gained on the day. Invesco Mortgage Capital ($17.95 0.22%), a real estate investment trust, gained 1.5%. Mortgage servicer Ocwen Financial Corp. ($15.87 0.86%) and data and loss-mitigation providers Lender Processing Services ($22.21 -0.29%) and CoreLogic ($17.04 0.05%) also showed gains.

Write to Jon Prior.