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The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up slightly on Friday as traders tried to move past credit concerns that sparked a big selloff in regional banks Thursday.
The 30-stock index had gained 38.45 points to 45,990.69.
The S&P 500 dipped 0.28 points to 6,628.79.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ shed 21.62 points to 22,540.92.
Stocks remain on track for weekly gains despite Thursday’s decline. The S&P 500 is up 1% after a strong start to the third-quarter earnings. The Dow has added about 1.3% week to date, while the NASDAQ has gained 1.4%.
Stocks that led Thursday’s bank sell off were rebounding, as Wall Street defended the shares and traders bet any bad credit bets were one-offs and not part of a bigger crisis. Zions and Western Alliance disclosed bad loans over the last 48 hours, which sparked a big selloff in the stocks that eventually dragged down the whole market Thursday. Zion lost 13%, while Western Alliance tanked by 11% Thursday.
But Zions Bancorp climbed more than 2% Friday after receiving an upgrade from Baird, which said the drop in market value for the regional bank was out of proportion considering the size of loan losses it was potentially facing. Investment bank Jefferies, caught in the storm for its exposure to bankrupt auto parts retailer First Brands, was last up 3% after Oppenheimer raised its rating to outperform. Jefferies was down 11% Thursday.
Better-than-expected earnings Friday from Fifth Third Bancorp also assuaged worries, sending the stock higher by 2%. The bank’s profit jumped last quarter even after posting a jump in credit losses tied to exposure to bankrupt subprime auto lender Tricolor.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell back, raising yields to 4.01% from Thursday’s 3.97%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices inched back three cents to $57.43 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $54.70 to $4,251.20 U.S. an ounce.
