Financials Down Amid Rate-Plan Skepticism -- Financials Roundup

Banks, lenders and other financial companies ticked down amid skepticism on the Federal Reserve's rate-hike plans.

The price of bitcoin rebounded after reports of major investors reversed a wave of selling in the "crypto currency" during the Christmas and New Year's break. After surveying institutional investors' sentiment on the stock market, one brokerage said there was "no euphoria on Wall Street, yet."

Founders Fund, the venture-capital firm co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, has amassed hundreds of millions of dollars of the volatile cryptocurrency spread over several funds, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"In December, the Sell Side Indicator - our measure of Wall Street's bullishness on stocks - rose for the third consecutive month to 56.8 from 56.1, its highest level in over six years," said analysts at brokerage Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 02, 2018 16:39 ET (21:39 GMT)