Bank stocks declined as investors moved funds ahead of thefirst presidential debate for the 2016 election Monday, Sept. 26.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.91% to 18,094.83,the S&P 500 decreased 0.86% to 2,146.10 and the Nasdaq composite index sank0.91% to 5,257.49.
Bankland was hit harder: The SNL U.S. Bank index dropped2.11% to 407.61 and the SNL U.S. Thrift index declined 1.43% to 823.73.
Stocks slumped as investors moved money onto the sidelinesahead of the first presidential debate between Democratic candidate HillaryClinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump, said Lou Brien, marketstrategist at DRW Trading Group. He said investors have spent some timedigesting the newsthat the Federal Open Market Committee would not increase interest rates andare now getting some breathing room as they prepare to receive more informationand consensus from the debate.
"I think investors don't want to be caught on the wrongside of the trade," he said. "The market has been set up for whateveroutcome. I think people think Trump has a chance of winning and arerepositioning portfolios for that."
In banking, Federal Reserve Board Governor Daniel Tarulloannounced that thecentral bank will propose stress test reductions for banks under $250 billionin assets and larger capital requirements for the biggest banks.
Tarullo said the Fed would release a notice of proposedrulemaking that would exempt certain banks with less than $250 billion inassets from the qualitative review within the annual Comprehensive CapitalAnalysis and Review process, effective for the next CCAR cycle in 2017. As longas the bank does not have significant international or nonbank activity, thebank would only be subject to quantitative stress tests and stress capitalrules.
Wells Fargo& Co. shrank 1.88% to $44.88. The company has been hit by another lawsuit, this time by former employees who claim thatsenior bankers as high up as CEO John Stumpf knew that improper methods werebeing used to reach quotas.
JPMorgan Chase& Co. fell 2.19% to $65.78, Citigroup Inc. sank 2.67% to $45.89, and dropped2.77% to $15.09.
Orrstown FinancialServices Inc. added 1.17% to $21.67, and Tappahannock, Va.-basedEastern Virginia BanksharesInc. expanded 1.63% to $8.13. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. dropped 1.83% to$87.77, Regions FinancialCorp. declined 2.25% to $9.56 and SunTrust Banks Inc. tanked 3.30% to $42.72.
In the thrift space, AstoriaFinancial Corp. lost 2.38% to $14.74 and shed 3.16% to $21.74.
Market prices andindex values are current as of the time of publication and are subject tochange.