After Days of Panic, Bank Executives Can Breathe Again

After nearly a week of tumult, the specter of a billowing crisis over the banking industry appeared to ease, at least for the moment, as pressure began to lift on the midsize and regional lenders most in peril.

Shares of First Republic, which over the weekend had to slap together a multibillion-dollar rescue package to shore up its finances, soared over 60 percent on Tuesday before giving back some of those gains and closing up 27 percent. Shares are still down by roughly two-thirds over the past five trading days....