By Shubham Batra and Amruta Khandekar
(Reuters) -Wall Street was set to open lower on Thursday after shares of First Republic Bank crashed amid fears of a banking crisis, while a drop in weekly jobless claims did little to alter bets of a small rate hike at the Federal Reserve's next meeting.
The fall in shares fueled fears of a broader banking crisis sparked by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and exacerbated by turbulence at European lender Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) on Wednesday.
"Investors just aren't sure if it's a takeover or take under. There's so much confusion going on right now in that sector (and) it's hard to know whether they are exploring it for purposes of winding down or if there actually is a premium for the current crisis to be paid," said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments.Meanwhile, data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, pointing to continued labor market strength, which could persuade the Fed to keep raising rates further.
Weak retail sales figures as well as data showing a downward trend in producer inflation on Wednesday had bolstered bets of a small rate hike by the Federal Reserve at its meet concluding on March 22.
Money markets are still largely pricing in a 25-basis-point rate hike by the Fed in March..
A meeting of European Central Bank policymakers is underway, with markets hoping that the turmoil in financial markets could force it to ditch plans for another hefty interest rate hike.
Shares of First Republic Bank cut initial gains to fall 31.5% premarket, after a Bloomberg News report said the regional lender was exploring a sale, among other options.
Shares of First Republic's peers Western Alliance Bancorp and PacWest Bancorp fell 8.5% and 18.2% respectively.
U.S. big banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) also erased early gains to trade flat.
U.S.-listed shares of Credit Suisse, however, rose 4.6% in premarket trading after the bank secured a credit line of up to $54 billion from the Swiss National Bank to shore up liquidity and investor confidence.
At 8:46 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 139 points, or 0.44%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 14.25 points, or 0.36%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 2.5 points, or 0.02%.
Shares of Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) Inc supported Nasdaq futures, rising 5.0% in premarket trade after the Photoshop maker raised its 2023 profit target.
Facebook (NASDAQ:META) parent Meta Platforms and Snapchat operator Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) rose 1.4% and 6%, respectively, after the Joe Biden administration threatened to impose a ban on TikTok.
Virgin Orbit plunged 42.5% after the satellite launch company said it would pause all operations from March 16, and was conducting discussions with potential funding sources.