Angst around the banking industry persists, evidenced by the material decline seen today in shares of First Republic Bank (FRC 12.18, -10.85, -47.1%).
Shares of First Republic Bank continued to suffer sharp losses today after FRC’s debt was downgraded at S&P to B+ from BB+. There was a short-lived recovery attempt in FRC when The Wall Street Journal reported that JPMorgan Chase’s (JPM 127.14, +1.33, +1.1%) Jamie Dimon is leading talks with executives at other banks about a deal that could involve converting the previously announced $30 billion in deposits into a capital infusion. Ultimately, however, FRC closed near its worst levels of the day.
The SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE), which was up 4.5% at its high this morning, closed with a slimmer 1.6% gain and the SPDR S&P Regional Bank ETF (KRE), which was up 4.9% at its best level of the day, had a 1.2% gain by the close.