Socit Gnrale, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole are once again in market turmoil on Wednesday. The European banking sector as a whole is worrying investors, after the largest shareholder of Credit Suisse ruled out a bailout for the struggling bank.
New tornado on the stock market for banks this Wednesday. CAC 40 red lantern, Societe Generale plunged more than 12% 2 p.m., 21.4 euros. just behind, BNP Paribasthe leading European bank, fell by 10.9%, 51.5 euros. Credit Agricole, for its part, lost nearly 6%, 10.1 euros.
According to the Reuters agency, this is the strongest decline in session since February 24, 2022 for Socit Gnrale and since March 16, 2020 for BNP Paribas. The two titles have even been briefly suspended in the morning. Result, the banks drag in their wake the flagship index of the Paris Stock Exchange, which lost 3.63%.
In fact, it is the whole of the European markets which are in difficulty with the return of serious concerns about the banks, in particular about Credit Suisse. Its largest Saudi shareholder has, in fact, ruled out a rescue of the bank in difficulty. Its action thus suffered its worst day, with a plunge of more than 25%.
Bankruptcy of SVB bank
This new fall in the markets comes just after the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the United States last Friday, which caused the stock markets to fall on Monday with the fear of contagion to the entire financial system.
But the measures of the American authorities and the assurances of the European governments on the solidity of the banking system following the bankruptcy of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) were able to stabilize the markets a little on Tuesday.
The bankruptcy of two American banks, SVB and Signature Bank, does not endanger French banks, thus assured Monday on Franceinfo the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire. I do not see any risk of contagion, so there is no specific alert, said the minister. We have banks which are solid, a banking system which is solid and a ratio of liquidity which is high, affirmed the minister.
Calm down, calm down, and look at the reality!.
And to insist on the fact that French banks are not exposed to a single sector of activity, like the Silicon Valley Bank, which is almost exclusively exposed to the new technologies sector. Bruno Le Maire had also asked investors to calm down. Calm down, calm down, and look at the reality!had dropped the minister.
Questioned by MoneyVox, Eric Dor, director of economic studies at the IESEG School of Management, estimated on Monday that the fall in banking stocks on the old continent was irrational because European banks operate differently from those with problems in the United States.
Other failures not excluded
But fears about the strength of the sector persist and the shadow of the collapse of the SVB still hovers, said Wednesday Susannah Streeter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. In an interview with AFP, the Nobel Prize in economics Joseph Stiglitz did not rule out other failures.
Contact this Wednesday by Reuters, Bercy did not comment on the sharp decline in banking stocks.
It’s irrational… Should you fear a new banking crisis after the bankruptcy of SVB?