Western Alliance Leads US Regional Banks Higher as Deposits Rise

Western Alliance Bancorp gained in premarket trading Wednesday, leading US regional banks higher, after it said deposits have grown by more than $2 billion since the quarter’s end.

(Bloomberg) — Western Alliance Bancorp gained in premarket trading Wednesday, leading US regional banks higher, after it said deposits have grown by more than $2 billion since the quarter’s end.

Shares of Western Alliance were 8.5% higher in premarket trading as of 4:06 a.m. in New York. Regional lending peer PacWest Bancorp gained 7%.

The latest figures of Western Alliance indicate deposit levels increased by another $200 million between May 9 and May 12. They had increased $1.8 billion from the end of the prior quarter to $49.4 billion as of May 9, according to the prior update.

Western Alliance was one of the regional banks initially swept up in the turmoil that followed the collapse of four other lenders in March, with investors concerned about unrealized losses on bond investments and deposit levels. Exposure to real estate lending has also been in focus. 

 

Concerns over the financial health of the lenders has hit the KBW Regional Banking Index, which has declined 32% so far this year. It fell 1.9% on Tuesday after rallying 3% the day prior. 

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As it continues to build its own deposits, Western Alliance has demonstrated “stability amid an uncertain operating backdrop,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Herman Chan and Sergio Ferreira wrote in a note. “We see the bank as well positioned, with $22.6 billion in available liquidity and only about $10 billion in uninsured deposits.”

 

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