U.S. to release bank stress data in May

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government will release some results of its bank stress tests in May with the goal to stabilize the ailing banking sector, the White House said on Wednesday.

"Early in May you will see in a systematic and coordinated way the transparency of determining and showing to all involved some of the results of these stress tests," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

"Our hope is that banks that are not healthy, or need help, will first and foremost seek that help privately, and then we'll take steps from there to assist them," he said.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)