Coffee With Greta: Banks Slide Again
DJIA Futures: -257 (-0.8%)
SPX Futures: -27 (-0.7%)
NASDAQ Futures: -34 (-0.3%)
Good morning friends!
Futures are lower as regional bank shares continue to slide.
Let’s get right to it!
Banks Take Advantage Of Emergency Fed Program
Regional bank shares are tumbling again today after several took billions in short-term loans from the Fed this week.
First Republic Bank (FRC) shares are down 19.4% ahead of the open, leading the 3.2% decline in the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE).
The drop comes after First Republic shares rallied nearly 10% on Thursday after a group of 11 banks pledged to deposit $30 billion into the bank.
Those institutions include Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Morgan Stanley (MS).
But news of banks taking advantage of the Fed’s emergency program then broke after the close on Thursday, sending the sector lower again.
Banks borrowed a total of $11.9 billion from the Bank Term Funding Program this week.
They also borrowed nearly $153 billion in shorter-term loans through the Fed’s discount window.
FedEx Jumps On Earnings Beat, Higher Outlook
FedEx (FDX) shares are rallying 11.1% in premarket trade after beating fiscal Q3 expectations and hiking its full-year guidance.
Here’s how the shipping giant’s results compared to analysts’ estimates:
- Adjusted EPS: $3.41 vs $2.73 expected
- Revenue: $22.17 billion vs $22.74 billion expected
FedEx also hiked its full-year outlook and said its cost-cutting efforts are offsetting lower demand in some of its units.
The company now expects adjusted EPS of $14.60 to $15.20 in fiscal 2023 vs $13.00 to $14.00 previously.
Analysts were forecasting full-year adjusted EPS of $13.56
Coming Up: Leading Economic Index, Consumer Sentiment
There is still more important economic data on the way today.
The Conference Board releases its February leading economic index at 10:00 a.m. ET.
That index is expected to fall 0.4% after declining 0.3% in January.
The University of Michigan also reports March consumer sentiment and inflation expectations at 10:00 a.m.
Consumer sentiment is expected to be unchanged this month at 67.
