European Bank Stocks Continue To Plummet

The weekend break wasn't of any help for financial stocks, particularly European's largest banks. The British Pound fell to a fresh multi-decade low of $1.3210 early Monday morning and dragged the banking sector with it. By mid-morning in London's trading session, shares of Barclays PLC (ADR) BCS and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC RBS were both halted after falling more than 10 percent. Barclays' US-listed issue hit a multi-decade low of $8.13 on Friday but had fallen an additional 24 percent during the pre-market trading session at $6.74. The same can be said for Royal Bank of Scotland as the US-listed issue hit a multi-decade low of $5.41 on Friday and had fallen a similar 24 percent to trade at $5.43. Other European-based banks were also trading lower during Monday's US-pre market trading session. Shares of Deutsche Bank AG (USA) DB were lower by nearly 10 percent at $13.36. Similarly, shares of Credit Suisse Group AG (ADR) CS were lower by a similar 10 percent at $10.36. Both stocks also hit multi-decade lows on Friday. No Relief For American Banks The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund XLF was trading lower by around 2 percent early Monday morning. Most individual US-based banks were lower by a similar percentage point. Shares of Morgan Stanley MS were lower by 2.81 percent at $23.83. Shares of Citigroup Inc C were lower by 2.48 percent at $39.30. Shares of Bank of America Corp BAC were lower by 2.31 percent at $12.70. Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM were lower by 2.08 percent at $59.60. Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS were lower by 1.94 percent at $139.11. Shares of Wells Fargo & Co WFC were lower by 1.77 percent at $44.90.