New Yok.- Stock prices fell again on Wall Street on Wednesday, though gains in shares of Microsoft and other big tech companies helped limit losses.
The S&P 500 lost 15.64 points, or 0.4%, to end at 4,055.99. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 228.96 points, or 0.7%, to settle at 33,301.87, while the Nasdaq composite led the market with a gain of 55.19 points, or 0.5%, to close at 11,854.35.
Wall Street had just suffered its worst day in a month, weighed down by concerns about the soundness of US banks. Most of the attention has been focused on First Republic Bank, which lost another 29.8% after losing almost 50% in the previous session. It was then that he gave details about how many customers withdrew their money amid last month’s turmoil in the industry.
The concern is that First Republic Bank and other small and midsize banks could suffer a run on customer deposits, similar to the one that led to the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last month. Even without further lockdowns, difficulties in the sector could trigger a pullback in bank lending that would weaken the economy.
PacWest Bancorp, another bank that has been in the crosshairs of investors, rose 7.5% after reporting above-expected results and saying its deposits have risen since late March. This may offer some optimism that First Republic’s problems could be specific to the institution and not a symptom of deeper problems with the system.
Enphase Energy also suffered a sharp drop on Wednesday, shedding 25.7%, despite its reported revenue and profit in the prior period topping forecasts. Analysts cited their revenue forecast for the current quarter, which fell short of some expectations.
Most companies have beaten forecasts so far this corporate reporting season, but the low expectations surrounding them have caused many investors to pay more attention to what CEOs say about upcoming trends than to what they do. results of the last three months.
Activision Blizzard, meanwhile, plunged 11.4% after British regulators blocked its takeover by Microsoft over fears it would hurt competition in the cloud gaming market.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.43% from 3.40% the previous session.
