First Republic, Deutsche Bank, Chevon, Block fall premarket; Regeneron rises

By Peter Nurse

Investing.com -- Stocks in focus in premarket trade on Friday, March 24th. Please refresh for updates.

• First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) stock fell 4.8%, PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ:PACW) stock dropped 2.8%, and Western Alliance (NYSE:WAL) stock fell 3.4% as turbulence in the banking sector continued.

• Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) stock fell 11% after a record surge in the cost of insuring against the risk of a default from the German lender late in the previous day.

• Block (NYSE:SQ) stock fell 2.3%, continuing to drop after losing 15% on Thursday in the wake of short-sellers Hindenburg Research accusing the payments firm of systematically misleading its investors and clients and avoiding regulation. Block denied the accusations, saying it is considering legal action.

• Chevron (NYSE:CVX) stock fell 2.1% and Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) stock fell 2.1% after crude prices fell sharply, dropping to the lowest levels this week after the U.S. government backed away from its intention to immediately refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

• Regeneron (NASDAQ:REGN) stock rose 0.2%, outperforming the wider market after Jefferies upgraded its stance on the pharmaceutical company to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’, saying its Dupixent drug could drive shares 15% higher.

• Ford (NYSE:F) stock fell 1.5% after the auto giant announced plans to build up to 500,000 electric trucks a year at its BlueOval City complex under construction in western Tennessee.

• Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) stock fell 3.9% after Oppenheimer downgraded the cryptocurrency exchange to ‘perform’ from ‘outperform’ the day after the U.S. SEC informed the company of the possibility of an enforcement action involving some of its products.

• Ouster (NYSE:OUST) stock fell 8.1% after the lidar maker reported a widening of its quarterly net loss, even as CEO Angus Pacala forecast savings with its Velodyne merger.