Banks haven’t delivered much bang for the buck in the past year, and are trying ETF investors’ patience some more.
The financial sector crumbled to the bottom of the S&P 500 heap Friday after Brexit — the U.K.’s exit from the European Union — came to pass. That plunge came on the heels of upbeat news for Wall Street banks: Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS),JPMorgan (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS), Wells Fargo (WFC) and 27 other banks passed the first round of Federal Reserve stress tests, an annual rite of passage that puts them through the wringer.
All 33 banks showed they could absorb serious market shocks and maintain their capital cushions even in a “hypothetical firestorm of 10% unemployment, negative interest rates, deflation, etc.,” said S&P Global Market Intelligence analyst Erik Oja
Now financial companies are being seriously challenged on another front. The Brexit result will likely create several headwinds for U.S. banks, according to Oja.
“We now see a further decline in long-term U.S. interest rates, a stronger U.S. dollar, and low probability that the Fed will raise short-term rates in the foreseeable future,” he wrote Friday. “This will further pressure net interest margins at banks, and lead to lower oil prices — with negative credit effects on banks’ energy lending.”