New York, February 4, 2026, 14:01 EST — Regular session
Bank of America shares climbed 1.5%, hitting $55.29 in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The stock fluctuated between $54.40 and $56.03, with roughly 33.5 million shares traded.
Investors shifted toward banks and value stocks, even as tech weighed on the wider market. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF dropped 0.6%, and the Nasdaq-focused Invesco QQQ slid around 2%, while the Dow ETF edged up slightly. Emily Roland of Manulife John Hancock described it as a “rotation into value” that’s drawing in more sectors. (Reuters)
Rates played a role in the backdrop. The Treasury announced it won’t raise auction sizes for notes and bonds for several quarters, unveiling a $125 billion refunding. The yield curve steepened, with the two-year/10-year spread widening to roughly 0.71 percentage points. Jefferies economist Thomas Simons highlighted the “guidance that auction sizes will be maintained,” while CreditSights strategist Zachary Griffiths said the move “broadly met expectations.” (Reuters)
Bank of America announced late Tuesday that its board approved a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.28 per common share, scheduled for payment on March 27 to shareholders recorded by March 6. The bank also declared a $1.75 dividend on its 7% cumulative redeemable preferred stock, Series B, with a payment date set for April 24 to holders of record as of April 10. (Bank of America)
New data brought mixed signals. The ISM services purchasing managers index, a key measure of business activity, remained steady at 53.8 in January—still comfortably above the 50 mark that indicates growth. However, its prices-paid gauge climbed to 66.6, suggesting rising costs. Meanwhile, ADP reported a modest gain of just 22,000 in private payrolls. “Whether pricing increases will stick or expand needs to be closely watched,” noted Steve Miller, chair of the ISM Services Business Survey Committee. (Reuters)
A recent securities filing revealed BofA Finance LLC, supported by Bank of America, is rolling out an issuer-callable yield note tied to Nike’s Class B shares. The note is slated to price on Feb. 6 and issue on Feb. 11. Being callable, the issuer holds the right to redeem the note early, which can alter the returns investors anticipate. (SEC)
JPMorgan climbed roughly 0.6%, Wells Fargo added 0.8%, and Citigroup inched up just 0.1%. Other major lenders showed mostly steady gains.
But the boost for banks won’t last if the bond market reverses course. Falling long-term yields or a flatter yield curve put pressure on net interest income — the gap between what banks earn on loans versus what they pay on deposits. A weaker economy tends to hit later through rising credit costs.
The next major market mover is the delayed U.S. data lineup: the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the January employment report will drop Wednesday, Feb. 11, followed by the January CPI on Friday, Feb. 13. December job openings data was also pushed to Thursday, Feb. 5. These three releases could shake up rate expectations—and with that, the mood around bank stocks. (Reuters)
