Bank stocks are once again getting pounded today in what has turned into a difficult week for the sector that has renewed fears from the banking crisis.

Shares of Western Alliance Bancorp (NYSE: WAL) traded more than 29% lower as of 1:52 p.m. ET today. Earlier today, shares had been down as much as 60% briefly. Meanwhile, shares of super-regional banks U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) traded 5% and nearly 8% lower, respectively.

Bank stocks struggled yesterday after the Federal Reserve went forward with its widely expected quarter-point interest rate hike. But things got a lot worse when media reports started swirling after the market closed yesterday that PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ: PACW) was exploring a sale. Shares of PacWest were down more than 45%, as of this writing, and really seemed to be hitting the entire bank sector. The SPDR S Regional Banking ETF (NYSEMKT: KRE) had fallen more than 5% as of this writing.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com