Financials Down As Traders Hedge On French Election - Financials Roundup

Banks, lenders and other financial companies fell as traders reduced exposure to sectors that would suffer if Marine Le Pen wins the first round of the French presidential election Sunday. Treasury yields declined in another sign of hedging activity. Lower rates, which would follow a shock in France, would eventually weigh on bank profits. While assets under management at BlackRock have quadrupled to $5.4 trillion since the end of 2008, cementing its position as the world's largest money manager, analysts at brokerage Credit Suisse Group analysts see further room for those assets to grow. Goldman Sachs is decreasing the firm's reliance on annual reviews for employee feedback, allowing managers to rate performance at any juncture. Visa reported profit and revenue increases for the first three months of 2017 that beat Wall Street expectations thanks to robust growth in transactions and the amount cardholders charged. ETrade Financial posted stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings and revenue as its daily average revenue trades increased in the double-digits from the previous quarter and a year earlier.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 21, 2017 16:54 ET (20:54 GMT)