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Stocks down as banking fears remain, Swiss National Bank gives Credit Suisse $54 billion lifeline, Yellen to address Congress on US banking system, Major railroad merger advances, Wells Fargo exec to plead guilty, and more financial news
Despite Switzerland’s central bank giving Credit Suisse a $54 billion lifeline, the move did little to calm fears over possible failures of regional and mid-size banks. Shares of First Republic fell more than 30% in premarket trading, while PacWest dropped 18%, and Western Alliance fell about 8%, CNBC reported. Regional bank stocks in the US remained down for the seventh time in eight sessions.
Stock futures were down on Thursday, with S&P 500 futures down 22 points or -0.58 %, while Dow futures tumbled for the second day in a row by 215 points or -0.67 %, and the NASDAQ fell by 51.99 points or +0.45 % as of 9:33 AM EDT, Yahoo Finance reported.
The benchmark US 10-Year Treasury was down -0.091 to yield at 3.403%, while the 2-Year Treasury was down -0.091 to yield at 3.884%, as of 9:22 AM EDT.
In oil futures, WTI crude was down -0.58% and trading at $67.22 a barrel, while Brent crude was down -0.41% and trading at $73.39 a barrel as of 8:23 AM CDT.
Global banks are experiencing a tentative reprieve as the Swiss National Bank announced on Thursday it was lending Credit Suisse a $54 billion lifeline to help shore up its liquidity and restore investor confidence, Yahoo Finance reported. Credit Suisse shares made a gain between 25-30% from Wednesday’s losses, but had given up some ground by Thursday morning with a gain of 22%, CNBC reported.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is set to tell members of the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday the U.S. banking system remains “sound,” despite the impacts of three bank failures in less than a week continuing to reverberate in financial markets and beyond, Yahoo reported.
The purchase of Kansas City Southern Railroad by Canadian Pacific is poised to be the biggest railroad merger in two decades, and the $28 billion merger is moving forward. Despite having a board composed of three appointees by President Joe Biden, the independent agency has ignored the Biden administration’s anti-trust push, Huff Post reported. The Justice Department and Department of Transportation are powerless to directly intervene in this merger.
Carrie Tolstedt, 63, former senior executive vice president of community banking for Wells Fargo, is facing up to 16 months in prison under a plea agreement with federal prosecutors filed Wednesday. Tolstedt agreed to plead guilty to obstructing a bank examination following the sweeping phony accounts scandal that occurred in 2016, NBC News reported. She also faces a civil penalty of $17 million announced separately by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
