Shares of banks and other financial institutions rallied, registering their biggest gain in a year as traders rotated into lagging sectors. The gains came despite an about-face from one private-credit manager on capping fund withdrawals.
Investors in Blackstone's flagship private-credit fund, known as Bcred, asked to redeem 10% of their shares in the second quarter, up from about 8% in the first quarter. That amounted to investors asking for $4.4 billion. Blackstone said it would limit redemptions from the multibillion dollar fund to 5%, a reversal from its strategy in March when it opted to pay the full amount requested.
Still, shares of Blackstone and rival private-credit managers such as KKR and Blue Owl soared, as traders rotated into beaten-down stocks from the semiconductor sub-sector, the leading industry group on the 2026 stock market.
Shares of London-listed banks and lenders with a large presence in Asia fell on fears that new rules would curtail mainland Chinese investors' use of Hong Kong bank accounts, with Prudential, HSBC and Standard Chartered falling by 3.9% or more.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
