Financials Retreat as Yield Curve Flattens - Financials Roundup

Shares of banks, lenders and other financial companies continued to lag, hit by a shrinking gap between short- and long-dated bond yields.

The U.S. yield curve, or the gap between two- and 10-year Treasury yields, is at its flattest since 2007, according to strategists at Deutsche Bank. Lower long-term government bond yields and a flatter yield curve tend to hurt lenders' profits, since banks earn money on the difference between what they pay on deposits and what they charge to lend money. Long-dated bond yields have come under modest pressure in recent sessions amid concerns that disagreements could force the GOP to make changes to its tax bill and slow down plans to pass it by the year's end.

Meanwhile, a senior U.S. regulator criticized his predecessor's crackdown on big banks' lending to heavily indebted companies, a shift in tone after a years-long battle over lending standards. The comments by Keith Noreika, acting comptroller of the currency, were the first by a senior U.S. official since federal standards for so-called leveraged lending were thrown into legal limbo by a government auditor's ruling in October.

Comerica's chief financial officer is leaving after less than two years on the job and the bank will promote a high-ranking accounting officer to the position, the Dallas-based company said.

Advisory consultant Dynasty Financial Partners has made one of its biggest additions, bringing in a $4 billion multifamily office as competition for assets and advisers heats up in the wealth-management industry.

Goldman Sachs named 509 managing directors, the last stepping-stone to a spot in its elite partnership.

-By Amy Pessetto, amy.pessetto@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 08, 2017 17:53 ET (22:53 GMT)