New York, Feb 13, 2026, 15:13 EST — Regular session
- Bank of America slipped roughly 0.3% to $52.36 as of the afternoon session.
- U.S. inflation slowed to 2.4% in January, leaving the door open for a possible rate cut in June.
- The judge gave the green light for an Epstein-linked lawsuit targeting the bank to move forward. U.S. markets will be closed Monday for Presidents Day.
Bank of America Corp (BAC) slipped 0.3% to $52.36 by mid-afternoon Friday, coming off an earlier dip to $51.46. Shares topped out at $52.82 earlier in the session, with volume hovering near 21.8 million.
The stock edged lower, with traders parsing signs of cooling U.S. inflation and questioning the effect of softer rates on banks’ profits. January’s consumer price index ticked up 0.2%, rising 2.4% year-over-year. Market bets coalesced around the Fed trimming rates by June, according to Reuters.
For banks, rate moves cut straight into net interest income—the difference between what they make on loans and securities versus the payouts to depositors. Yields falling? That can pinch margins, despite often giving a lift to bond portfolios and lightening the load for borrowers.
Broader indexes posted slight gains. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF added roughly 0.3%.
Financials weren’t moving much—sector ETF held flat. The bank ETF, on the other hand, managed a slight uptick. Bank of America, though, slipped under that broader bank group for the session.
BAC slid 2.47% Thursday, finishing the session at $52.52. Shares moved between $51.79 and $53.94, Yahoo Finance data showed.
Shares of major banks tumbled that session—Wells Fargo shed close to 3%, while U.S. Bancorp lost roughly 2%. The S&P 500 dropped 1.57% amid a sweeping downturn, according to MarketWatch data.
Bonds surged with investors rushing out of equities, dragging long-end yields down. The 10-year yield dropped 7.8 basis points—each basis point is one-hundredth of a percent—hitting levels not seen since early December, according to MarketWatch.
Strategists couldn’t agree on the impact of Friday’s CPI for the Fed outlook. Phil Orlando over at Federated Hermes described the numbers as “better than expected.” But Josh Jamner from ClearBridge Investments flagged that core services inflation without shelter — the so-called “supercore” — stayed stubbornly hot. Reuters
Still, some sections of the report showed stubborn spots—that’s the kind of thing that can jolt bank stocks. Core inflation, minus food and energy, stayed put at 2.5% year over year, according to the Financial Times. Any uptick in yields threatens to slam the brakes on the rate-cut trade.
Bank of America is staring down a fresh legal headache after a U.S. judge decided Thursday that a proposed class action tied to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking can move ahead. The trial lands on May 11. The bank maintains it did not act intentionally.
No trading in the U.S. this Monday—markets are shut for Presidents Day. Focus shifts quickly to the Fed’s Jan. 27-28 meeting minutes, set for release Feb. 18. The BEA follows up with its personal income and outlays data, out Feb. 20, which features those PCE price numbers the Fed keeps an eye on.
The next read on the producer price index lands Feb. 27 — a key update for inflation watchers. For BAC, it’s the push and pull between softer headline numbers and persistent strength in services that keeps attention glued to the yield curve, especially as next week approaches.
