Catenaa, Monday, March 31, 2025- US bank stocks are on track for the worst quarter since March 2023 over economic worries as Trump’s liberation day has created market uncertainties.
The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index is down 5.09% since the start of the year, and down 10.6% from a month ago on Friday, putting it on track for its worst three-month stretch since March 2023.
The six largest US banks stocks were all trading lower early Monday, with JPMorgan Chase down 1.73% premarket and Wells Fargo down 1.68% and Morgan Stanley down 1.79%, futures suggested that stocks were poised for another large selloff ahead of Trump’s April 2 tariff rollout.
Markets have been gripped by anxiety that Trump’s trade policy shift risks reigniting inflation and slowing the pace of the nation’s economic growth, with surveys showing increasing worries among US consumers.
Analysts have downgraded stocks and cut earnings estimates for financial companies ahead of the next slate of earnings reports.
Last week, Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s shares tumbled by 17.79%, after it reported disappointing earnings amid a decline in investment-banking and capital-markets revenue. Jefferies Financial Group shares are down by 34.81% since the start of the year.
That’s a potential warning sign about other banks, given that the once-expected boom in mergers and initial public offerings never materialized as markets were focused on the rising economic uncertainty.
JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley will kick off the quarterly earnings for the biggest US banks on April 11.
