U.S. stocks are mixed amid continued weakness in bank sector

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com — U.S. stocks were mixed on Thursday as investors continued to be wary about bank stocks and as new economic data clouded the picture on interest rates.

At 10:50 ET (13:52 GMT), the was down 18 points or 0.1%, while the was up 0.3% and the was up 0.6%.

First Republic Bank (NYSE:) shares tumbled 26% on fears of a widening bank crisis. Bloomberg reported the company is exploring a sale after last weekend’s collapse of SVB Financial’s Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and the pressure on Credit Suisse on Wednesday.

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE:) shares were up 3% after it said it got a credit line up to $54 billion from the Swiss National Bank, helping to bolster liquidity.

The European Central Bank by a half percentage point, though the Federal Reserve is not expected to follow suit next week. Most futures traders are  in a quarter of a percentage point rate increase from the Fed after its meeting.

Complicating efforts to forecast the Fed’s next move, fell to 192,000 and were lower than the expected 205,000. They were also down from the prior week, an indication of a still-tight labor market despite signs inflation is easing somewhat.

The Fed’s manufacturing index, a key measure of U.S. manufacturing activity, was below expectations in March, but improved marginally compared to the prior month.

American social media companies were rising on word the Biden administration may try to ban TikTok in the U.S. if the China-based parent of the short-video platform doesn’t divest itself. Shares of Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:) rose 0.5% as did Snap Inc (NYSE:), up 4.5%.

Oil continued to slide. were down 0.6% to $67.20 a barrel, while crude was down 0.5% to $73.33 a barrel. were flat at $1929.