Good Evening! U.S. equities closed mixed on Monday, with Wall Street gripped by tumultuous trading as federal banking authorities took swift steps to stop the repercussions of Silicon Valley Bank’s demise.
The S&P 500 was down 0.15%, while the Dow Jones fell 0.28%. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.45%.
MORE BANK TROUBLE
Despite moves by US regulators to bolster trust in the banking industry after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic Bank (FRC) shares plunged a record 61% on Monday to end at $31.98.
Sadly it was not enough… First Republic said on Sunday that it has obtained extra liquidity from the Federal Reserve Bank and JPMorgan Chase. The First Republic went on by stating “the total available, unused liquidity to fund operations is now more than $70 billion.” On top of that, it is also qualified for the Federal Reserve’s new Bank Term Financing Program.
However, it was not just them that fell… Stocks of First Republic and other regional lenders were periodically stopped for volatility due to worries of a bank contagion. Western Alliance (WAL) shares are down 47%, while PacWest Bancorp (PACW) and Zions Bank Corporation (ZION) are down 21% and 25%, respectively, from their session lows.
MORE LAWSUITS
The US government sued Rite Aid Inc. on Monday, accusing the drugstore chain of failing to raise red flags while unlawfully filling hundreds of thousands of prescriptions for banned narcotics, including opioids.
The Details: According to the Department of Justice, Rite Aid filled prescriptions that had no valid medical purpose, were for off-label usage or were not provided in the normal course of professional practice from May 2014 to June 2019.
How did this happen? The government said that despite evident “red flags” that the prescriptions, notably for oxycodone and fentanyl, were improper, Rite Aid pharmacists filled them, while the corporation purposely erased internal written warnings about suspect prescribers.