The four biggest banks in the U.S. were trading slightly lower before noon on Thursday, March 22.

Bank of America Corp. retreated 2.73% to $31.00, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 1.96% to $112.49, Wells Fargo & Co. dipped 2.30% to $53.53 and Citigroup Inc. was down 2.02% to $71.84.

Initial claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 229,000 for the week ended March 17 from an unrevised level of 226,000 in the previous week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

In general, U.S. bank and thrift stocks were also declining before midday. At 11:50 a.m. ET, the SNL U.S. Bank Index fell 2.53% to 622.18 and the SNL U.S. Thrift Index slipped 1.63% to 960.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.48% to 24,316.61, the S&P 500 fell 1.43% to 2,673.86 and the Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 1.46% to 7,238.30.

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Market prices and index values are current as of the time of publication and are subject to change.