For the week, the S&P (SP500) lost 1.60%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (COMP:IND) dipped 1.26%, and the blue-chip Dow (DJI) fell 1.98%.

The financial sector recorded losses for the third consecutive week, with State Street Financial Sel Sec SPDR ETF (XLF) sliding 3.32% to close at $48.89.

Financials has emerged as the worst-performing group in the S&P 500 sectors so far in 2026 as investors rotate away from the sector amid heightened market volatility. XLF has pulled back by ~11% year-to-date.

The weekly performance was shaped by escalating geopolitical tensions, sector rotation into defensives, and technical deterioration.

Among the megacap stocks, large diversified banks extended losses from the prior week.

Wells Fargo (WFC) (-7.86% W/W to $74.10), HSBC Holdings (HSBC) (-6.97% W/W to $78.19), and Goldman Sachs Group (GS) (-4.77% W/W to $782.21) topped the list.

Wells Fargo shares fell for seven straight sessions even as the Fed board confirmed the termination of a 2018 consent order, the only remaining consent order against the San Francisco-based bank.

Banks are said to be ramping up their Middle East security measures amid the Iran conflict.

Mastercard (MA) followed, losing 4.66% to close the week at $497.99. This week, the payments company launched a new crypto program to create a forum for dialogue and collaboration among crypto-native companies.

For the largecap stocks, Blue Owl Capital (OWL) was the biggest decliner, having lost 11.53% W/W to $8.75. Private credit concerns resurfaced after a series of recent credit issues and fund restrictions put the fast-growing sector under fresh scrutiny, pressuring shares of several publicly traded alternative asset managers and lenders.

Seeking Alpha created a list of firms with private credit exposure along with their Quant ratings and year-to-date performance, which can be accessed here.

Meanwhile, crypto stocks were the surprise winners in the category, shrugging off the Middle East concerns impacting broader markets.

IREN (IREN) (+13.30% W/W to $41.58) and Circle Internet Group (CRCL) (+13.22% W/W to $115.38) led the gainers.

The crypto sell-off could be entering its final phase, Bloomberg News reported, citing Brett Munster of Blockforce Capital.

The majority of the drawdown appears to be behind us, and the asymmetry is shifting, Munster reportedly said, adding that a potential turnaround could come about mid-year.

The gains came alongside hopes of a more crypto-friendly regulation in the U.S. On March 11, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced an MoU and coordination for “providing a fit-for-purpose regulatory framework for crypto assets and other emerging technologies”, among other things.

Furthermore, crypto stocks, MARA Holdings (MARA) (+16.35% W/W to $9.32) and Figure Technology Solutions (FIGR) (+15.06% W/W to $35.07), led the midcap gainers during the week. Meanwhile, PJT Partners (PJT) (-10.23% W/W to $129.20) and Credit Acceptance (CACC) (-10.06% W/W to $447.79) led the midcap losers.

CACC declined 9.35% on Friday amid a high short interest of 18.35% of the total float (as of February 27). Meanwhile, UBS reduced its price target on PJT Partners to $151 from $180 during the week.

Among smallcap stocks, CION Investment (CION) stood out as a notable decliner, losing 17.61% to $6.55. The company posted a Q4 beat in top- and bottom-line results, but saw its earnings stay unchanged year-over-year and revenue decrease from the prior-year quarter.

Esquire Financial (ESQ) was a significant gainer in the category, adding 10.73% from the prior week to $109.99. This week, Esquire announced the acquisition of Signature Bancorporation in an all-stock transaction, with the aggregate deal value coming to ~$348.4M. Raymond James double upgraded the stock to Strong Buy from Market Perform after the announcement.

Greenlight Capital Re (GLRE) was another winner in the category. The stock benefitted from its Q4 financial results.

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Wells Fargo & Co (WFC) shares fell for seven straight sessions, as the stock was down 0.6% at $74.77 on Friday.

The Wall Street lender fell 8.4% in the preceding six sessions. The stock is down 16% over the past one month and has dropped nearly 19% so far this year.

“WFC’s 2026 guidance targets 5% NII growth and mid-single-digit loan growth, yet expense growth and credit quality risks loom. Despite resolving legacy issues, WFC’s efficiency ratio remains high at 65.5%, lagging peers and limiting sustainable margin improvement,” pointed out a recent Seeking Alpha analysis.

Looking at Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating, WFC has a Hold rating with a score of 3.1 out of 5. The company received an F in the prospect of profitability, while it got a B in growth factor.

Turning to the Wall Street community, 16 analysts gave WFC a Buy and above rating. 11 analysts have given the stock a Hold recommendation, while none recommended Sell.

Seeking Alpha analysts are cautious and see the stock as a Hold.

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Under the 2018 enforcement action, the bank was required to demonstrate improvements to its governance and risk management program and complete two third-party reviews of the improvements.

Also, the regulator had imposed an asset cap, which was removed in 2025.

The consent order was placed on the company in punishment for the fake-account scandal and other deceptive sales practices that came to light in 2016.

The banking giant is said to have pursued a business strategy that prioritizes growth without ensuring appropriate management of all key risks. Wells Fargo did not have an effective firm-wide risk management framework in place that covered all key risks.

In response, the board had said it will restrict growth of the firm until WFC sufficiently improves its governance and controls.

The 2018 consent order was the only remaining consent order against the San Francisco-based bank.

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Apollo Global Management (APO) unit Atlas SP Partners; Jefferies Financial Group (JEF); and Castlelake LP, majority owned by Brookfield (BN), are also exposed to MFS, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

This month, the UK-based specialist property finance solutions provider MFS entered into administration.

Barclays and Atlas had helped arrange over £2B of loans to the firm, lending hundreds of millions of dollars, the Thursday, February 26 report noted.

Barclays had about £600M tied up in the matter, a judge overseeing the MFS insolvency case reportedly said at the hearing.

Meanwhile, Atlas was involved as a senior creditor and is pursuing all legal avenues to maximize recoveries on £400M of exposure, a spokesperson told Bloomberg.

Furthermore, Jefferies had an exposure of ~£100M to MFS, according to a person familiar with the matter.

And, Castlelake had arranged a lending facility, which has around £400M outstanding, one of the people reportedly said. However, a Castlelake spokesperson told Bloomberg in an emailed statement that they do not have direct unsecured exposure to MFS.

The MFS issue could increase concerns relating to loose underwriting in credit markets, Bloomberg noted.

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A key catalyst arrived from the nation’s highest court. In a 6-3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court

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Changes might be coming to the mortgage industry, as the outlook shifts on the risks origination and servicing pose to the banking system. Regulations in the post-2008 world prioritized safety over market participation, with increasing restrictions gradually pushing out traditional lenders from the

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For the week, the S&P 500 Index retreated 1.39%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 2.10%, and the blue-chip Dow dropped 1.23%.

However, the financial sector was the worst hit, with State Street Financial Sel Sec SPDR ETF (XLF) emerging as the week’s biggest laggard among all the 11 S&P 500 sectors. XLF dipped 4.81% week-over-week to close at $51.65.

AI disruption fears have cascaded across a number of sectors, from software to wealth management to trucking and logistics, shaping the week into a market-wide debate over who might be at risk of getting automated next.

The fear trade jumped into financials this week. Wealth management (IAI) and tax planning companies sank after private financial software provider Altruist launched an AI solution that creates tax strategies for clients.

From there, insurance brokers (IAK) (KIE) also suffered after the rollout of a new AI tool by private online insurance marketplace Insurify.

Ryan Specialty (RYAN) (-18.54% W/W to $38.71), Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG) (-13.71% W/W to $208.45), and LPL Financial (LPLA) (-13.10% W/W to $334.70) led the week’s largecap losers.

Neptune Insurance (NP) (-19.82% W/W to $18.89), Upstart (UPST) (-19.77% W/W to $30.68), and Baldwin Insurance (BWIN) (-15.69% W/W to $16.50) were the top three midcap losers.

For the smallcap stocks, Strive Asset Management (ASST) (-30.09% W/W to $8.33), TWFG (TWFG) (-29.14% W/W to $18.36) and Goosehead Insurance (GSHD) (-26.42% W/W to $48.69) took the top loser spots.

Meanwhile, big banks including Wells Fargo (WFC) (-7.44% W/W to $86.98), Bank of America (BAC) (-7.04% W/W to $52.55), and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) (-6.16% W/W to $302.55) led the week’s megacap losers.

Notably, all three diversified banks mentioned investing in technology at their respective conference presentations this week.

“We’ll spend 10% more in technology development this year,” said Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan. “We’ll put several hundred million in AI as part of that.”

“We’re a very different company than we were 5 or 6 years ago,” said Wells Fargo CFO Michael Santomassimo at the UBS Financial Services Conference. “We’ve been investing. We’ve been making sure that we continue to have all the right people, the right technology, the right products that we’ve got to offer.”

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“Spend on the consumer side is up year-on-year every week, consistent in terms of the percentage increase that we’re seeing,” said Wells Fargo (WFC) CFO Michael Santomassimo at the UBS Financial Services Conference.

“Credit performance is still very good. We’re not seeing signs of any systemic deterioration at all, across the consumer or the commercial portfolios. And so overall, delinquencies are great,” said Santomassimo.

“We saw a good uptick in new account origination in the credit card business in the second half of last year. And so hopefully, that will continue into this year,” said the Wells Fargo CFO.

Meanwhile, Bank of America (BAC) CEO Brian Moynihan said at the Bank of America Financial Services Conference that consumers spent 5% more money in January, compared to the same period last year.

“The credit quality is strong. The usage is strong, the pre—getting people to take the card out of the wallet is high,” said Moynihan.

“With our credit focus, we’re trying to keep the charge-offs from having a volatility. We have not had a consumer issue in the United States since the financial crisis,” said the BofA CEO.

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Additionally, looking towards next week, industry players such as Citigroup (C) and Valero (VLO) will see the ex-dividend dates for their upcoming dividend payments.

See a breakdown below of some of the highlights of this week, along with some upcoming activity on the dividend front.

Dividend Increases

Here are some companies that have announced a dividend increase in the past week:

General Motors (GM)

• Dividend declared: January 27
• New dividend amount: $0.18
• Previous amount: $0.15
• Increase: 20%

Kimberly Clark (KMB)

• Dividend declared: January 27
• New dividend amount: $1.28
• Previous amount: $1.26
• Increase: 1.6%

Sunoco LP (SUN)

• Dividend declared: January 28
• New dividend amount: $0.9317
• Previous amount: $0.9202
• Increase: 1.2%

Dividend Declarations

Here are some companies that have announced a dividend in the past week:

Wells Fargo (WFC)

• Dividend declared: January 27
• Dividend amount: $0.45

Norfolk Southern (NSC)

• Dividend declared: January 27
• Dividend amount: $1.35

Comcast (CMCSA)

• Dividend declared: January 29
• Dividend amount: $0.33

Nasdaq (NDAQ)

• Dividend declared: January 29
• Dividend amount: $0.27

Upcoming Dividend Calendar

Here are some companies that have an ex-dividend date coming next week:

Citigroup (C)

• Ex-dividend date: February 2
• Payout date: February 27

MetLife (MET)

• Ex-dividend date: February 3
• Payout date: March 10

Valero (VLO)

• Ex-dividend date: February 5
• Payout date: March 9

JB Hunt (JBHT)

• Ex-dividend date: February 6
• Payout date: February 20

Additional Dividend Information

For investors looking to gain further access to the dividend space, listed below are some popular dividend-focused ETFs that can be further analyzed:

Dividend ETFs: (VIG), (SCHD), (VYM), (DGRO), (SDY), (DVY), (IDV), (DGRW), (NOBL), (HDV), (RDVY), (VIGI), and (SDVY).

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