Commercial banking

Lower borrowing costs, reduced exposure to the urban office sector and flattening vacancy rates could collectively save lenders from beleaguered corners of the commercial real estate market.

Treasury yields rose the day after President-elect Donald Trump was picked. The short-term result: It's harder for commercial real estate lenders and borrowers to find common ground.

The added capital will help the New Jersey-based regional bank reduce its commercial real estate footprint faster and give it wiggle room to grow elsewhere, analysts said.

The Dallas-based bank swung to a loss in the third quarter after reclassifying a large bundle of multifamily loans that it plans to offload under a recently announced strategy pivot.

Analysts peppered CEO Jane Fraser with questions about whether Citigroup, already hit hard by its regulators, could face asset growth restrictions. She said there is "absolutely nothing" in the works that could impact the megabank's businesses.

The megabank's scale hasn't made it immune from the deposit wars that have crimped bank profits. But the "stabilization" that Wells Fargo flagged is a positive sign as other banks start reporting earnings.

The megabank reported a big increase in credit costs for the third quarter, which included a reserve build of $1 billion.

Coordinated strikes by dock workers along the Eastern Seaboard and the Gulf Coast could cause issues for banks that provide credit to foreign shipping groups and domestic trucking companies.

As the commercial real estate industry sputters along, lenders, investors and analysts are putting less stock in loan-to-value ratios, a longtime bellwether of risk.

Prophecies about a wave of bank failures caused by sickly CRE loans haven't yet come true. But there are still plenty of caution signs in a saga that will take years to play out.