New York, Feb 12, 2026, 15:22 EST — Regular session
- Citigroup shares fell about 4% in afternoon trading, extending the prior session’s drop.
- The decline tracked a broader slide in financials as investors braced for Friday’s U.S. CPI data.
- Citi’s incoming CFO flagged credit-card growth but warned a proposed rate cap could hit credit availability.
Citigroup shares were down 4.2% at $112.45 in afternoon trade on Thursday, taking the stock further away from this week’s highs as U.S. banks slid with the wider market.
The move matters now because investors are juggling two near-term pressure points for lenders: a reset in interest-rate expectations ahead of Friday’s U.S. consumer price index report, and renewed political focus on credit-card pricing after fresh comments from Citi’s incoming finance chief. (Reuters)
At a Bank of America financial conference on Wednesday, incoming Chief Financial Officer Gonzalo Luchetti said Citi expects continued growth in its credit card business and is leaning into more affluent customers through rewards cards. He also warned a proposed cap on credit-card interest rates could have “massive ripple effects” by shrinking credit availability for lower-income borrowers. (Reuters)
Thursday’s drop came as Wall Street’s main indexes fell more than 1%, led by another leg down in technology shares, while investors waited for inflation data that could steer the Federal Reserve’s next move. A strong U.S. jobs report on Wednesday also cooled expectations for near-term rate cuts, Reuters reported. (Reuters)
Bank stocks were broadly weaker. JPMorgan Chase fell 2.2%, Bank of America slid 1.9% and Wells Fargo dropped 2.5% in late trade.
Citi’s shares had already fallen 3.9% on Wednesday, according to MarketWatch data, leaving the stock vulnerable to another bout of risk-off selling as the market’s tone soured. (MarketWatch)
In fixed-income markets, the benchmark U.S. 10-year yield fell on Thursday, a move that can weigh on lenders’ net interest margins — the spread between what banks earn on loans and pay on deposits — if it persists. Investors were also positioning ahead of Friday’s CPI print, Reuters reported. (Reuters)
In a separate regulatory filing posted Thursday, Citigroup set out terms for callable fixed-rate notes due 2029, a routine funding step that underscored the bank’s continued use of wholesale markets. (Stock Titan)
Luchetti told the conference Citi expects moderate growth across deposits, services and wealth, and said prospective rate cuts have already been baked into its outlook. “We continue to see U.S. consumer resilience early in the year,” he said. (Reuters)
Still, the credit-card rate-cap debate is the wilder card. Even without new legislation, headlines can hit valuations for card-heavy lenders, and a sharper economic slowdown would raise the risk of higher charge-offs in consumer books.
For the rest of the session, traders are watching whether financials stabilize into the CPI release on Friday. Citi investors are also looking ahead to the bank’s scheduled investor day on May 7 for a fuller update on strategy, including its cards business. (Reuters)
