Shares of regional banks fall due to downgrading of credit ratings by Credit Suisse and Moody’s in the US market

Shares in regional banks tumbled in pre-market trading on Wednesday as problems at Swiss giant Credit Suisse triggered a massive sell-off in US markets.

The latest turmoil came after ratings agency Moody’s cut its outlook on the banking system due to a “rapidly deteriorating operating environment” following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and other firms.

Moody’s has placed six regional banks on the downgrade list: First Republic, Zions Bancorp, Comerica, Intrust Financial, UMB Financial and Western Alliance.

Shares in San Francisco-based First Republic hovered in the red and were down more than 5% in premarket trading as of 9 am ET. Zions Bancorp, Comerica fell over 9%.

Western Alliance fell almost 7% and UMB Financial fell almost 5%. KeyCorp fell over 3%.

Charles Schwab’s shares were unchanged after CEO Walt Bettinger revealed a day earlier that he had bought 50,000 shares of the firm.

The fall was the latest sign of volatility this week for regional bank stocks, which fell sharply on Monday only to rebound a day later. First Republic shares fell nearly 70% earlier in the week before rising on Tuesday.

Shares in Zurich-based banking giant Credit Suisse fell 25% after its largest shareholder, the National Bank of Saudi Arabia, said it would not invest more money in the troubled institution.

Shares of Credit Suisse fell to a record low shortly after the company admitted it found “material weaknesses” in its financial statements over the past two years. The Swiss bank has significant assets in the US, which raises fears of further spread of the infection.

The collapse of the SVB raised concerns about a possible raid on regional banks, The Post reports.

Larger US banks have also fallen into market chaos.

Wells Fargo fell more than 5% and Citigroup shares fell nearly 5%. Bank of America fell more than 4%. Goldman Sachs fell almost 4%.

The decline in stocks has spread to the wider market.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 600 points due to economic concerns. Nasdaq tech futures fell more than 200 points, while broad-based S&P 500 futures fell more than 80 points.

The entire banking sector came under pressure as federal regulators were forced to shut down SVB and another bankrupt institution, Signature Bank of New York.

The two firms were the second and third largest failed banks in US history.

The feds were reportedly investigating the inner workings of the SVB prior to its collapse, including last-minute stock sales by its top management.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that the Federal Reserve is mulling stricter rules and oversight of midsize banks in the wake of the SVB collapse.