- Four of America's biggest banks lost a combined $55 billion of market value in a single day as financial stocks plunged.
- US bank shares took a beating Thursday amid fears of contagion effects from the turmoil at Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate.
Wall Street's biggest banks took quite a thrashing in the stock market Thursday as investors spooked the turmoil at Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate Capital dumped financial shares.
JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley - the four most valued US lenders - saw $55 billion wiped off their combined market capitalization on Thursday, Refinitiv data show.
JPMorgan, the biggest US bank, alone saw a $22 billion tumble in its market value as its stock slid 5.41% to $130.34. Wall Street heavyweight Bank of America lost $16.16 billion as its share price fell 6.20% to $30.54. Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley saw their market capitalization drop by $10.3 billion and $6.2 billion, respectively.
Among other major US banks, Goldman Sachs and Citi also witnessed significant declines in their share prices.
The selloff came amid heightened fears of contagion effects from financial distress at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Silvergate Capital. SVB's stock crashed 60% Thursday after the company said it would sell more shares to cover a $1.8 billion loss it incurred after completing a $21 billion fire sale of its bond portfolio.
Meanwhile, crypto-focused lender Silvergate said it will write off its assets and close down Wednesday, only days after flagging doubts about its survival.
The KBW Bank Index which tracks the performance of leading bank stocks fell 7.7% on Thursday, in what was the biggest decline since June 2020.
All four of the top US banks above remain under pressure in premarket trading on Friday, with JPMorgan stock falling an additional 1.10%, Bank of America dipping 0.62%, Wells Fargo sliding 0.88% and Morgan Stanley down 0.43%.