U.S. stock indexes opened lower on Thursday as investors assessed the latest Federal Reserve decision which hiked the interest rate by 25 basis points and opened the door to a long-awaited pause in its tightening campaign. Wall Street also picks on more U.S. regional banks on returning fears over the financial system. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -1.01% dropped 78, or 0.2%, to 33,341. The S&P 500 SPX, -0.81% declined by 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.65% shed 0.2%. Shares in PacWest Bancorp PACW, -59.03% plunged 42% after a report that the company’s executives were weighing a possible sale. Shares of other regional banks also saw pressure Thursday morning. Western Alliance Bancorp’s WAL, -58.23% tumbled 14.9%, and Zions Bancorp NA’s ZION, -15.31% dropped 4%. Elsewhere in Europe, the European Central Bank on Thursday lifted interest rates by 25 basis points, slowing the pace of tightening as it delivered a seventh straight increase.
This article was originally published by Marketwatch.com. Read the original article here.
