Publicly traded Korean-American banks have also seen their stock prices plummet in the wake of the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the world’s 16th largest bank.
Bank of Hope, Hanmi Bank, PCB Bank, and Open Bank, the four largest publicly traded Korean American banks in Southern California, all hit new 52-week lows.
In terms of banks, Bank of Hope’s stock price hit a new yearly low, falling to $11.10 intraday. Fortunately, it rebounded slightly later in the day to close at $11.56. It was down 1.3% intraday. It is 32.4% below its 52-week high of $17.11 on March 14 last year.
Hanmi Bank also hit a new 52-week low at $20.55. It closed at $21.45, down 0.9% from its previous close. It is 21.6% below its 52-week high of $27.35.
PCB Bank, which hit a new yearly low of $15.71, closed at $16.02. Compared to its 52-week high of $23.85, it is down 28.6%. Open Bank’s new year-to-date low is $10.20. Open Bank’s 10-day closing price was $10.35. It is down 0.6% from its previous close ($10.41). It is 28.6% below its 52-week high.
The news of SVB’s bankruptcy, coupled with the news of Silvergate’s liquidation the day before, sent shares of the financial sector tumbling on the New York Stock Exchange.
This was because the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation shut down SVB’s operations and placed it into bankruptcy proceedings.
Amid fears that the crisis could spread to other banks, Pacific Western Bancorp, the holding company of Pacific Western Bank, plunged 35.5%, Western Alliance Bank plunged 23.8%, and First Republic Bank plunged 14.8%.
In the aftermath, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 345.22 points, or 1.07%, to close at 31,099.64, its longest losing streak of four trading days since Dec. 19 last year.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 56.73 points, or 1.45%, to 3861.59, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 199.47 points, or 1.76%, to 11,038.89.
On a weekly basis, the Dow was down 4.4%, the S&P500 was down 4.6%, and the Nasdaq was down 4.7%. These are the largest weekly declines for the Dow since June of last year and the S&P 500 since September of last year.
“Investors fled to safe-haven assets such as bonds and gold,” experts said, adding that the fear of becoming the next SVB caused some bank stocks to plunge, negatively impacting bank stocks.
By HOON SIK WOO [woo.hoonsik@koreadaily.com]
