US Stocks Tumble In Wake Of SVB Collapse

Wall Street's indexes closed lower on Friday as investors ran for the exits stressing about the health of US banks after regulators had to close a high-profile lender to the technology sector, overshadowing the February jobs report.

California banking regulators said they had closed SVB Financial Group to protect deposits in the largest bank failure since the financial crisis of 2008. A capital crisis at SVB had already put pressure on bank stocks globally.

SVB had tried but failed to shore up its balance sheet through a stock sale proposed late on Wednesday. The same day, crypto-lender Silvergate Capital said it would have to wind down after huge losses from the FTX cryptocurrency exchange collapse.

"There's concern cracks may be appearing in the financial system as a result of the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes," said Carol Schleif, chief investment officer, BMO family office in Minneapolis. "The fear is whether it's broader than one industry's bank and one segment of the economy."

The S&P 500 lost 1.45 percent, to end at 3,861 points. Meanwhile the Nasdaq lost 1.76 percent, to 11,139, and the Dow Jones fell 1.06 percent, to 31,912.

Investors had expected to be more focused on economic data than bank stocks. Before the market opened the non-farm payrolls report showed the U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in February while average hourly earnings rose 0.2 percent last month after gaining 0.3 percent in January and unemployment rose to 3.6 percent.

The data had eased concerns that the Fed could raise rates by 50 basis points at its March meeting after hawkish remarks from Fed Chair Powell this week.

In individual stocks, Gap fell after the apparel retailer posted a bigger-than-expected fourth-quarter loss and forecast full-year sales below Wall Street estimates.

Oracle slid after the software firm missed third-quarter revenue estimates. (Reuters)