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Financial stocks slid with the wider stock market in the week that saw a deluge of corporate earnings, in addition to a slew of stronger-than-expected economic data that could give the Federal Reserve a reason to keep rates higher for longer.
The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLF) retreated 2.3% for the week ended Oct. 27, slightly outpaced by the S&P 500’s 2.5% slump.
The biggest loser among financial stocks (with market cap over $2B) this week was P&C insurer Kinsale Capital Group (NYSE:KNSL), tumbling 19.3% on the heels of worse-than-expected revenue for Q3;
Taking the second slot, U.K. lender NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) cratered 17.8% after turning in lackluster earnings;
Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) plunged 14.1% despite posting Q3 earnings that topped Wall Street expectations and improving its 2023 outlook;
Electronic bond trading platform MarketAxess Holdings (NASDAQ:MKTX), which had also published Q3 earnings during the week, shed 12.5%; and
Rounding out the five biggest decliners, Barclays (NYSE:BCS) fell 11.7% on the back of lower-than-expected Q3 profit as well as an analyst downgrade.
For the winners, Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ:WTW) took the lead, climbing 11.2%, as strong demand and cost discipline buoyed the insurance broker’s Q3 results;
PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) scaled higher by 9.6% as the real estate finance company delivered mixed Q3 results;
Qifu Technology (NASDAQ:QFIN), a Shanghai-based fintech, gained 8.4%;
Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) advanced 8.3% after the bank posted Q3 earnings and revenue that exceeded consensus estimates, driven by growth in its domestic card business; and
Germany’s Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) perked up 8.1% after boosting its outlook for capital distributions to shareholders.