New York, Feb 27, 2026, 12:06 (EST) — Regular session
- Bank of America shares slid with U.S. financials as risk appetite faded into month-end
- A hotter producer-price reading pushed investors to dial back near-term rate-cut bets
- Focus shifts to March inflation data and the Fed’s mid-March policy meeting
Bank of America Corporation (BAC) shares fell 4.6% to $49.90 by 11:46 a.m. ET on Friday, extending a broad pullback in bank stocks. Trading volume was about 20.5 million shares, below the stock’s recent daily average of about 39 million. 1
The move landed as Wall Street’s main indexes sagged and financials led the decline, keeping the S&P 500 and Nasdaq on course for their steepest monthly drop since March 2025. “There are a lot of questions around AI and the future of tech,” said Anthi Tsouvali, multi-asset strategist at UBS Global Wealth Management. 2
A surprise jump in the producer price index (PPI) — a measure of prices businesses receive — also weighed on sentiment. Producer prices rose 0.5% in January, and economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.3% gain; “We expect the Fed to remain on pause during its upcoming March meeting,” said Ben Ayers, senior economist at Nationwide. 3
In rates, the 10-year Treasury yield slipped below 4% earlier in the day, touching about 3.98%, its lowest since late November. 4
That matters for banks. A drop in long-term yields can squeeze net interest margin — the gap between what lenders earn on loans and pay on deposits — especially when competition for deposits stays stiff.
Other big banks sold off as well. Wells Fargo was down 5.6% and Citigroup fell 4.8% around midday. 5
Credit risk is back in the conversation too after the collapse of UK mortgage lender Market Financial Solutions, which left some lenders and private credit funds facing potential losses. 6
There are a few offsets on the consumer side as borrowing costs ease. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 5.98% this week, and “lower rates could be the nudge some buyers and current homeowners have been waiting for,” said Matt Vernon, head of consumer lending at Bank of America. He added mortgage application volumes at the bank are up nearly 22% year over year. 7
Separately, a London Stock Exchange notice said Bank of America published a supplementary prospectus tied to its $85 billion euro medium-term note program. 8
But the cross-currents are not friendly. If tariffs keep feeding inflation, the Fed can stay restrictive for longer; if growth cracks instead, loan losses become the story. Either path can keep a lid on bank multiples.
Next up, rate traders are watching the Fed’s March 17-18 meeting, with the policy decision due on March 18. 9
Before that, the Bureau of Economic Analysis is due to publish the next PCE price index report on March 13 — the inflation gauge the Fed tracks most closely — while Bank of America’s next dividend record date is March 6, with payment set for March 27. 10
