Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., October 16, 2025.
Jeenah Moon | Reuters
U.S. stock futures edged lower on Friday morning after the previous session saw a sell-off fueled by concerns about regional banks’ loan practices.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 1%, while S&P futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were down by 1.3% and 1.5%, respectively.
In after-hours trading, Interactive Brokers Group fell more than 5% despite reporting strong quarterly results, and Oracle slipped 4.7% after the cloud computing giant gave analysts its long-term financial outlook. Drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk also moved notably lower after President Donald Trump during a briefing on fertility treatments suggested the administration was negotiating much lower prices for their blockbuster obesity drugs.
Each of the major U.S. stock indexes closed in the red on Wednesday, fueled by a significant decline in bank stocks late in the session. The Dow lost 301.07 points, or 0.7%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite settled down 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively.
Shares of several financial heavyweights and regional banking names fell after Zions and Western Alliance disclosed bad loans, which sparked worries about loose lending practices and fears that similar issues could arise. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE), which has been down for four straight weeks, lost more than 6% during the session. Uneasiness in the banking sector has grown after the recent bankruptcies of two auto industry-related companies.
Friday will offer another chance to gauge how regional banks are faring, with a slew of companies set to report their earnings, including Comerica and Fifth Third, among others.
Meanwhile, tensions about global trade and tariff policies, elevated market valuations amid the artificial intelligence boom and the effects of the ongoing U.S. government stoppage have also carried on unabated. The shutdown, which is in its third week, has resulted in an indefinite halt of crucial economic data releases from federal agencies.
