Some of the stock exchange’s small and medium-sized banks fell the hardest. Investors are well aware that three of the four largest bank failures in US history have occurred in recent months. Pacwest Bancorp tumbled nearly 28 percent and Western Alliance Bancorp fell more than 15 percent.
But the big banks also had a bad day, as did the energy sector as a whole. Bank of America and Citigroup lost 3.0 and 2.7 percent, respectively. Chevron fell 4.3 percent and the share in British Petroleum retreated 3.3 percent.
The broad S&P 500 index fell 1.2 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index both lost 1.1 percent.