US regional banks continue to tumble amid ongoing crisis

Stocks declined Thursday, as contagion fears in the regional bank space were reignited.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 286.50 points, or 0.86 per cent, to end at 33,127.74. The S&P 500 slid 0.72 per cent, closing at 4,061.22. The Nasdaq Composite shed 0.49 per cent, ending the day at 11,966.40. This was the fourth consecutive day of declines for the major indexes.

The Dow turned negative for the year on Thursday, pulling back 0.06 per cent year to date. Declines in Boeing, Disney, Goldman Sachs and American Express shares dragged on the Dow.

US regional banks resumed their slide on Thursday as the industry’s worst crisis since 2008 rumbled on.

Shares of PacWest tanked by more than 50 per cent. The decline came after news late Wednesday that the California bank has been assessing strategic options, including a possible sale, a person familiar told CNBC.

Regional bank shares sold off hard, with the SPDR S&P Regional Bank ETF dropping more than 5 per cent. Western Alliance tumbled 38 per cent and saw trading halted multiple times due to volatility.

Canada’s TD Bank said it was scrapping its planned $13bn acquisition of Memphis-based First Horizon, blaming uncertainty about regulatory approval of the deal. First Horizon shares were down 33.6 per cent at mid-afternoon in New York.

In tech news, Apple reported second-fiscal quarter earnings on Thursday that beat Wall Street’s soft expectations for sales and revenue, driven by stronger-than-anticipated iPhones sales. However, Apple’s overall sales fell for the second quarter in a row. Apple shares fell 1 per cent

Shares in Paramount dropped by almost 30 per cent after the company reported a billion-dollar quarterly loss and slashed its dividend, illustrating the challenges weighing on Hollywood as it pivots to streaming.

In commodity news, to extract maximum value from its nickel reserves and promote downstream investment, Indonesia has eliminated tax incentives for low-quality nickel investment, particularly nickel pig iron (NPI), with a focus on attracting investment in higher-value products for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, as Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia announced; the government targets around $95B investment this year with an emphasis on natural resources processing industries.

Overall, all sectors except Real Estate and Utilities, finished lower.

Futures

The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.4 per cent fall

Currency

One Australian dollar at 7:10 AM is buying 66.94 US cents..

Commodities

Iron ore futures are pointing to a 3.2 per cent fall.

Gold gained 1.07 per cent. Silver jumped 2.59 per cent. Copper added 0.34 per cent and oil rose 0.15 per cent.

Figures around the globe

Across the Atlantic, European markets closed lower. London’s FTSE fell 1.10 per cent, Frankfurt lost 0.51 per cent while Paris closed 0.85 per cent lower.

In Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei was closed, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.27 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.82 per cent higher.

Yesterday, the Australian sharemarket closed 0.06 per cent lower at 7193.

Ex-dividends

Partners Group Global Income Fund (ASX:PGG) is paying 1.2666 cents unfranked

Dividends payable

Elanor Commercial Property Fund (ASX:ECF)
Seven Group Holdings (ASX:SVW)
Wingara AG (ASX:WNR)

Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.

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