U.S. bank sell-off sends ripples through Europe’s lenders

By Alun John

LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – A dramatic sell-off in U.S. bank stocks spilled over into Europe on Friday, as some of the region’s biggest banks saw their shares tumble in their largest decline in nine months.

Europe’s STOXX banking index .SX7P fell 4.4% as of 825 GMT, set for its biggest one-day slide since early June, with declines for most major names, including HSBC .HSBA.L down 4.5% and Deutsche Bank DBKGn.DE down 7.9%.

The global rout in bank stocks was prompted by Silicon Valley Bank, which has been forced to raise fresh capital after losing $1.8 billion selling a package of chiefly U.S. bonds to meet depositor demands for cash.

The episode undercored the vulnerability of banks, many of which were propped up following the global financial crisis more than a decade ago. That crash and the economic fallout from the pandemic led central banks and governments to print trillions but they are now seeking to rein that in.

(Writing By John O’Donnell. Editing by Elisa Martinuzzi.)