Financials Up Ahead of Fed Meeting - Financials Roundup

Banks, lenders and other financial companies rose as traders anticipated an increase from the Federal Reserve.

"We think the June Fed meeting will have dovish undertones, but will underscore the baseline forecast for rates and balance sheet normalization," said analysts at brokerage Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research. "Most obviously, we think the Fed will hike rates by 25 basis points. We think the statement will continue to reiterate that the weakness in inflation is transitory, but may note that the inflation data are worth monitoring in coming months."

The Treasury Department may support banks that want to ease the effects of a new accounting rule that would force them to book losses on soured loans more quickly. One brokerage said the adoption of the "Blockchain" -- the technology underlying bitcoin -- by a range of financial and tech companies remains in an experimental phase.

"The Blockchain still hasn't had a true test: Early signs are that this is a promising technology, but many of the big questions have yet to be answered, and it hasn't been tested at scale in a complex, fast-moving business environment," said analysts at brokerage Morgan Stanley, in a research note.

Ireland's Allied Irish Banks is preparing to raise billions of euros in an initial public offering, which priced late Monday and will see its formerly state-owned shares start trading June 23.

(-By Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 13, 2017 16:42 ET (20:42 GMT)