US Bank Stocks Head for Longest Weekly Losing Run Since 2008

Major US bank shares were on course for a sixth consecutive weekly decline on October 16, which would mark their longest losing streak since the 2008 global financial crisis. The 24-member KBW Bank Index was down about 1.3% for the week and roughly 13% below its August record, leaving it in correction territory, Economic Times Markets reported, citing Bloomberg News. The duration of the slide stood out more than its depth: the index had already experienced a steeper decline of nearly 17% earlier in the year. These figures represent a source-reported market snapshot, not a live price service or a confirmed weekly close.

Third-quarter earnings offered little relief. Weakness in fixed-income trading counterbalanced stronger equities trading, while a higher-than-expected inflation reading complicated expectations about the Federal Reserve’s response to price pressures. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Herman Chan identified the possibility of interest rates staying elevated for longer as a risk to economic growth and loan quality. According to Barclays analyst Jason Goldberg, the bank index trailed the S&P 500 in 18 of the 21 trading sessions following the Fed’s September 16 rate increase. Goldberg said there had been no comparable rolling 21-session period since the index’s creation in May 1992.

Artificial intelligence added another layer of uncertainty. Chan said higher funding costs for AI companies raised questions about the staying power of capital-markets revenue associated with infrastructure investment. He also identified agentic AI as a potential longer-term challenge to the dependable, inexpensive deposits underpinning bank profitability. Those were risks flagged by the analyst, rather than evidence that such deposit disruption had already occurred. Beyond shareholders, persistent pressure on lenders attracted attention because banks supply credit that supports economic activity; the report did not establish that the share-price decline itself had caused a contraction in lending.