Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, United States, October 16, 2025.
Jeenah Moon | Reuters
U.S. stock futures fell Friday as concerns about regional banks’ lending practices caused investors to abandon riskier assets and turn to safe havens.
Futures contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 360 points, or 0.8%. S&P 500 Futures Contracts And Nasdaq 100 Futures were down 1.1% and 1.3% respectively.
Zions Bancorp fell more than 1% with Western Alliance. Bank of California lost 3.6%. THE SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) lost 1.4%.
The stock market sold off on Thursday, fueled by a significant drop in bank stocks late in the session. Zions and the Western Alliance have disclosed questionable loans, sparking concerns about lax lending practices and fears that similar problems could arise. Concern in the banking sector has increased following the recent bankruptcies of two companies linked to the automobile industry.
Friday will provide another opportunity to assess the state of regional banks, with a large number of companies set to report results, including Comerica And Fifth thirdamong others.
At the same time, tensions over global trade and tariff policies, high stock market valuations amid an artificial intelligence boom, and the effects of the current U.S. government shutdown have also continued unabated. The shutdown, now in its third week, has led to an indefinite halt to the release of crucial economic data by federal agencies.
Interactive Brokers Group fell more than 3% despite reporting strong quarterly results, and Oracle slipped 3.7% after the cloud computing giant gave analysts its long-term financial outlook. Drug manufacturers Elie Lilly And Novo Nordisk also fell significantly after President Donald Trump, during a briefing on fertility treatments, suggested the administration was negotiating much lower prices for its blockbuster obesity drugs.
