Markets ended the day mixed, as National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn announced after market close March 6 his intention to leave his White House post in a few weeks. Cohn, long seen as a steady hand guiding President Donald Trump's economic agenda, is believed to have reached his limit with the administration's insistence on pursuing protectionist trade policy.
Cohn had been in support of a pro-trade approach, aligning himself with those worrying that the tariffs would spur a global trade war.
The major indexes slipped at the opening bell, but gradually recovered losses over the course of the trading day. By the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had declined 0.33% to 24,801.36, the S&P 500 had ticked down 0.05% to 2,726.80 and the Nasdaq Composite Index had increased 0.33% to 7,396.65.
The largest banks ended the day mixed as well. JPMorgan Chase & Co. declined 0.37% to $114.73, Citigroup Inc. decreased 0.19% to $73.92, Bank of America Corp. added 0.22% to $32.18 and Wells Fargo & Co. lost 0.82% to $56.60.
In notable movers, Sandusky, Ohio-based Civista Bancshares Inc. added 4.48% to $24.47 and Hoquiam, Wash.-based Timberland Bancorp Inc. increased 3.64% to $30.79.
Banks across the country are watching as the U.S. Senate moves forward on package legislation revising large swaths of the postcrisis regulations installed by the Dodd-Frank law.
