** Shares of U.S. regional lenders fall premarket after
Moody's downgrades 10 small- and mid-sized lenders
** Moody's also said it may downgrade some of the top
lenders, warning that the sector's credit strength will likely
be tested by funding risks and weaker profitability
** Regions Financial RF.N Citizens Financial CFG.N ,
Western Alliance Bancorp WAL.N , PacWest PACW.O , Comerica
CMA.N , KeyCorp KEY.N , PNC Financial PNC.N , Fifth Third
FITB.O and Zions Bancorp ZION.O down 0.15% to 2.32%
** Moody's also places six giants, incl Bank of New York
Mellon BK.N , US Bancorp USB.N , State Street STT.N and
Truist Financial TFC.N , on review for potential downgrades
** Says elevated commercial real estate (CRE) exposures are
a key risk due to high rates, declines in office demand and low
availability of CRE credit
** YTD, KBW Regional Banking Index is down ~9.4%
(Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru)
((JaiveerSingh.Shekhawat@thomsonreuters.com;))