Energy-exposed regional banks plummet as oil prices break below $30/bbl

Crossfirst Bankshares

16/03/2020 15:04

** Regional banks with significant exposure to energy cos
plummet Mon as Wall Street tumbles amid mounting coronavirus
fears
    ** Brent crude  LCOc1  fell below $30 a barrel earlier,
while WTI crude  CLc1  at $29.80, down ~2%, as of 1100 EDT
 O/R . S&P 500 index  .SPX  down nearly 7% after fall at the
open triggered another trading halt  .N 
    ** Larger banks Regions Financial  RF.N , Comerica  CMA.N 
and KeyCorp  KEY.N  down ~13-16%, while Zions Bancorporation
 ZION.O  off ~5%. S&P 500 Banks index  .SPXBK  plunges ~12%
    ** Smaller regional banks BOK Financial  BOKF.O , Texas
Capital Bancshares  TCBI.O  down >10%, and Cullen/Frost Bankers
 CFR.N  off 8%. KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index  .KRX  down
~9%
    ** Banks were slammed last week as investors bet tumbling
interest rates would crush bank profits and worried about rising
credit costs in the face of an economy spooked by coronavirus
and plunging oil prices  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2B23L0  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2B23JS
    ** RBC in Mar 8 note said pressure building in energy
lending space has become more serious as Saudi Arabia and Russia
price war escalates  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2B20C2
    ** Major U.S. banks, such as JPMorgan  JPM.N  and Citigroup
 C.N , also dropping Mon after Fed's surprise rate cut. Analysts
say this group's energy loans to total energy loans outstanding
don't exceed 3% as of Q4 2019
    ** Since Mar 6, just prior to Saudi price-war launch, KRX
has fallen ~22% and SPXBK has declined ~23%. SPX down ~16% over
same time frame

 (Reporting by Lance Tupper and Sinead Carew)
 ((lance.tupper.tr.com@reuters.net
lance.tupper@tr.com 646-223-5017))