U.S. stocks were falling as bank worries flare up again

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were falling on Friday as investor fears about the banking system flared up again.

At 9:52 ET (13:52 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 234 points or 0.7%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.7% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 0.6%.

Deutsche Bank was a focus on Friday after its credit default swaps rose to a four-year high, triggering stock drops among major banks. JPMorgan Chase&Co. (NYSE: JPM) shares were down over 2% and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) fell 2.6%, while Deutsche Bank's (NYSE: DB) shares were down more than 6%.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress on Thursday that officials were prepared to do more to make sure bank deposits are safe, but that hasn't calmed fears about a liquidity challenge that could end up curtailing lending.

Futures traders are now expecting the Federal Reserve to pause interest rate hikes in May.

Orders for durable goods fell 1% last month versus expectations of a 0.6% rise. But manufacturing PMI came in at 49.3, better than expected, and services PMI came in at 53.8, also better than expected.

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) shares were up 6.8% after the UK competition regulator narrowed the scope of its antitrust investigation in the Microsoft-Activision deal.

Oil fell. Crude Oil WTI Futures was down 2% to $68.56 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures crude was down 1.9% to $74.50 a barrel. Gold Futures was up 0.1% to $1997.

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