Shares of bank stocks had a roller-coaster ride over the weekend and on March 13. Trading at dozens of regional U.S. banks has temporarily halted amid volatility and falling prices.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that trading at First Republic was halted, with the bank's stock price falling 65% when trading was halted, resulting in losses for the bank. Trading in PacWest Bancorp, down 25 percent; Zions Bancorp, down 25 percent; and Regions Financial, down 9 percent, were also suspended. The banks' recovery was uneven after the resumption of trading, with Regions Financial and Zions Bancorp rebounding and other banks inching higher.
Many other banks also traded sharply lower. Fox News noted that KeyCorp was down 29.02% in midday trade on the East Coast, while Huntington Bancshares was down 18.96%. Charles Schwab fell 9.5% after trading was halted and resumed. The largest banks suffered smaller losses. At the time of writing, Citigroup was down 7.3 percent and JPMorgan was down 1.3 percent. Meanwhile, the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq all edged higher bitcoin. Just before the market opened on March 13, U.S. President Joe Biden made a brief statement on the economy, in which he said:
“America can trust the banking system to be safe. Your deposits will be there when you need them. Taxpayers have nothing to lose.” Biden also said he would fire management of banks taken over by the FDIC and prosecute those responsible for bank failures. However, investors in failed banks will not be protected. "They deliberately took risks. That's how capitalism works," the president said.
Even after prices stabilize, the banking crisis could affect the crypto industry, as the failed Silvergate and Signature banks were friendly to crypto, unlike many traditional banks.
