U.S. stocks are falling as bank worries cloud over Fed optimism

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were falling amid revived concerns about the U.S. banking system.

At 11:47 ET (15:47 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 393 points or 1.2%, while the S&P 500 is down 0.8% and the NASDAQ Composite is down 0.4%.

Concern about the health of the banking system is weighing on optimism that the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its interest rate hikes as economic data shows its actions to now have started to cool inflationary pressures.

Shares of PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ:PACW) fell 49% on Thursday and halted trading after the Los Angeles-area lender said it was exploring strategic options, including a sale. This comes just days after regulators seized First Republic Bank and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) agreed to buy its deposits and most of its assets.

Other regional bank stocks are feeling the pressure as KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) shares fell 5.9%, while Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) fell 9.6%.

The Fed raised interest rates again on Wednesday, by a quarter of a percentage point, to the highest they have been since 2007. Chair Jerome Powell suggested the Fed could be nearing the end of the rate hiking cycle, though the ultimate decision would come down to the data.

Futures traders are anticipating that pause to come in June.

New jobless claims rose last week to 242,000, slightly more than expected. The bigger snapshot of the state of the labor market in the U.S. is coming out tomorrow in the form of the jobs report for April.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares fell 0.9% ahead of its quarterly earnings report after the closing bell tonight. Shares of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) fell 5.7% after weaker than expected guidance.