US bank stocks tumble; weak economic data sparks recession fears
Updates with closing prices, adds Morgan Stanley's note in paragraph 16
By Manya Saini and Saeed Azhar
Aug 5 (Reuters) -U.S. bank stocks slumped on Mondayas fears of a recession sent investors fleeing from a sector closely tied to the health of the economy and toward safe-haven assets.
The S&P 500 Banks Index .SPXBK, tracking a basket of large-cap bank stocks, closed down 2.4%, while the KBW Regional Banking Index .KRX fell 2.8%.
Citigroup C.N led big bank losses with a 3.4% fall.
JPMorgan Chase JPM.N fell 2% andBank of America BAC.N declined nearly 2.5%. Goldman Sachs GS.N dropped 2.5%.
Lenders typically feel the squeeze as recessions heighten concerns over credit losses due to higher unemployment. Loan demand - a key factor in profitability - also takes a beating.
"The economy is potentially slowing more than people appreciated, based on last week's economic data, that first and foremost is the biggest driver as it impacts loan growth, income growth, credit quality," said Jason Goldberg, banking analyst at Barclays.
Investors have been jittery since a crisis of confidence hit the sector last year, in part due to higher interest rates, and took down three major regional players.
Among regional banks, CustomersBancorp's CUBI.N shares fell nearly 4.4%, while Huntington Bancshares HBAN.O dropped 3.4%.
"This market volatility, coupled with potential liquidity dislocation, could pose significant challenges for banks, especially in managing funding and liquidity risks," said Moody's Corp's banking analyst Laurent Birade.
The U.S. unemployment rate jumped to a near three-year high of 4.3% in July amid a significant slowdown in hiring, heightening fears the labor market was deteriorating and potentially making the economy vulnerable to a recession.
"It's very normal, especially with interest rates having gone up as much as they have and you're seeing that weakness in the commercial real estate market, to see credit losses normalizing," said Erika Najarian, analyst at UBS.
"The jobs print is essentially saying things are not as awesome as they were, they're not saying that things are terrible."
The economic weakness will likely seep into the sector's outlook after a mixed sector-quarter earnings season, where executives from top U.S. banks remained divided over the Fed's future path on interest rate cuts and flagged deterioration in consumer health.
"This may be a few-day blip. I don't think anybody's ready to call this the beginning of a several-quarter downturn in the markets or the economy," said Stephen Biggar, banking analyst at Argus Research.
Morgan Stanley analyst Manan Gosalia said in a note potential rate cuts will be credit positive for mid-sized banks as it will help reduce funding costs and stimulate loan demand.
The S&P 500 Banks Index is down 9.5% month-to-date, compared with a 6% decline in the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX. The KBW Regional Banking Index .KRX has lost about10% over the same period.
Bank stocks fall amid global equities sell-off https://tmsnrt.rs/3WNVmZw
Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru and Saeed Azhar in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and David Gregorio
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
