Shares of regional banks in the United States plummet – 5/3/2023 – Market

Shares of midsize US banks fell ahead of open markets on Wednesday, with PacWest Bancorp and Western Alliance Bank extending losses from earlier this week after the collapse of a third major regional financial institution in two years. months.

The country’s intervention in First Republic Bank and its sale to JPMorgan Chase on Monday (1st) brought the turmoil of the banking sector back to the fore and provoked a sell-off of stocks in the sector with investors fearing what the next piece of the domino will be. falling.

The KBW Regional Banking Index closed on Tuesday (2) at the lowest level since December 2020.

“A wave of concern is rising about the poor health of US regional bank portfolios, with many sitting on large unrealized losses,” said Susannah Streeter, principal at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“The ease of withdrawals in the digital age is causing increased jitters, given the speed of bank meltdowns over the past two months,” he added.

PacWest shares were down 10.5% on Wednesday. Western Alliance Bank was down 7.2%, while Comerica and Zions Bancorp lost 3.3% and 2.6% respectively.

PNC Financial Services Group was down 1.8%. The bank said on Tuesday that its controller and the banking unit could make an offer of up to US$ 15 billion (R$ 75.4 billion) in commercial paper as a way to guarantee additional liquidity.

Later on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve is expected to release a decision to raise US interest rates by 0.25 percentage points and comment on the banking sector.