U.S. stocks tumble as Credit Suisse adds more pressure to bank group

By Liz Moyer 

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks tumbled as Credit Suisse raised fresh concerns about the banking system.

At 12:14 ET (16:14 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 669 points or 2.1%, while the S&P 500 was down 1.8% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 1.2%.

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE:CS) stock plunged 24% after the Saudi National Bank, a top investor, said regulations prevented it from being able to provide any more financial assistance to the Swiss finance firm.

At the same time, fresh economic data was stoking hopes for a less aggressive Federal Reserve. Retail sales fell 0.4% in February, a greater-than-expected contraction after rising 3.2% in January.

Producer prices rose 4.6% in the year through February, compared with expectations for an increase of 5.4%.

Futures traders are now divided on what the Fed's next move will be. About 60% are betting there won't be an interest rate move next week, while the rest believe the central bank will raise rates by a quarter of a percentage point, according to the Fed Rate Monitor tool.

Bank stocks had recovered somewhat on Tuesday after a rout on Monday because of the sudden collapse of SVB Financial and Signature Bank over the weekend. Regional banks were under pressure again on Wednesday.

Shares of First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) were down 18%, while shares of PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ:PACW) slid 11%.

Big banks were also falling, such as JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), down 4.9%, and Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), down 1.9%.