Financial exchange traded funds were among the weakest sectors in Wednesday’s market pullback as the ETFs followed key components Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to the downside.
The big banks have been hit by lower trading and weakness in investment banking.
“The pace of investment banking activity fell in all product areas in April,” Goldman Sachs analysts said in a recent note on capital markets. Trading slowdowns were prevalent across every asset class but higher global stock markets “could lead to elevated retail engagement,” they wrote.
Financial stocks have been trending lower and Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEArca: XLF) is right at its 50-day moving average. A failure to break through this indicator could spell more weakness for the ETF, which was down nearly 1% Wednesday.
Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund
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