Regional banks join bigger peers in signaling resilient economy as lending holds firm

US regional banks reported strong third-quarter results this week, pointing to an economy that’s holding up even as borrowing costs rise. The earnings momentum was supported by resilient business loan demand, while weakness in capital markets weighed on investment banking revenue. PNC Financial CEO William Demchak said customers are continuing to invest despite global uncertainty. Loan growth led among regions with PNC up 14.2% in Q3, followed by U.S. Bancorp at 8%, M&T Bank at 5.5%, and Citizens Financial at 5.29%. Executives said loan pipelines remain strong and haven’t seen a slowdown, including at Citizens where demand picked up in the last weeks of the quarter.