Bank stocks are falling in theprerket, fears about the plants of the economy are turning

Shares of banks fell on Wednesday amid fears that rising cases of COVID-19 could curb economic recovery.

The outlook for banks’ profits has been hit by a marked decline in bond yields in recent weeks, as fears of rising inflation have given way to fears that the economic jump could smooth out. Falling bond yields are dampening banks’ lending margins and, consequently, their profitability.

Yields on 30-year Treasury bonds have fallen below 2% again.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) fell 0.2% each in the premarket. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was trading 0.4% lower, while JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) were trading flat.

On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs fell the least of the five, by 1.1%, Wells Fargo had the largest decline of 3.5%, while others lost 1.6% -2.6%.

While more than half of the US population has already been vaccinated with at least the first dose, the rapid spread of the Delta variant, which first appeared in India, is now a new concern. It will be clarified later whether this concern has reached the Federal Reserve, which will publish the minutes of its last meeting at 14:00 ET (21:00 local time).

At its last meeting in June, the US Federal Reserve raised its growth forecast for 2021 to 7% from 6.5% issued in March. The “dot-plot” of central bank politicians also hinted at the possibility of two interest rate hikes in 2023, earlier than the 2024 schedule set in March. Many are still skeptical about timing.