Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

U.S. stocks fall amid investor concerns about banking sector

Published 17/03/2023, 15:12
Updated 17/03/2023, 15:12
© Reuters.

© Reuters.

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were falling as investors continued to worry about the health of the banking sector.

At 9:50 ET (13:50 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 249 points or 0.8% , while the S&P 500 was down 0.4% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 0.1%.

SVB Financial filed for bankruptcy protection early Friday after a run on deposits at its Silicon Valley Bank forced regulators to shut it down. The move allows the parent company time to consider strategic alternatives for its broker-dealer and venture capital arms, which aren’t part of the filing.

It also comes a day after a group of big banks banded together to deposit $30 billion in uninsured funds at First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC), which had gotten caught up in the sharp selloff of banking stocks since Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse last week. 

First Republic suspended its dividend after the move. Its shares were down 20% on Friday.

The shakeout in the banking sector could give the Federal Reserve extra reason to be cautious about interest rates as it heads into next week’s policy meeting. Before SVB’s woes, expectations had grown high that the Fed would raise rates by half a percentage point, as Chair Jerome Powell told Congress the fight against inflation wasn’t over.

But with small and regional banks under pressure, lending could contract and slow the economy. That gives the Fed room to raise rates less aggressively. Most futures traders currently expect a quarter of a percentage point hike.

FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) shares rose 9% after the logistics giant raised its outlook for the full year as cost cutting maneuvers kick in. 

Oil continued to fall. Crude Oil WTI Futures were down 2% to $66.94 a barrel while Brent Oil Futures crude was down 2% to $73.12 a barrel. Gold Futures rose 1.6% to $1,954.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.