Trump’s comment about breaking up banks jolts markets

An otherwise uneventful trading day on Wall Street on Monday got a middle-of-the-day scare when an off-the-cuff remark by President Trump about breaking up the banks sent markets gyrating for about 14 minutes — before investors figured it was no big deal.

In an interview at the Oval Office, Trump told Bloomberg News that he was “looking into” reviving the Glass-Steagall Act, a law that kept separate commercial and investment banks.

A revival of Glass-Steagall, which he described as “the old system,” has been a feature of Trump’s agenda since at least August, when it was on the Republican Party’s platform, and has been discussed by high-level White House surrogates.

When Bloomberg’s ultra-fast headline wire service reported the story, however, that nuance had been lost: “TRUMP SAYS HE’S ACTIVELY CONSIDERING BREAKING UP BIG BANKS,” the wire reported at 12:51 p.m.

Immediately, JPMorgan Chase, the biggest US bank by assets, took a nosedive, falling more than 1 percent in 2 minutes. Shares of Bank of America and other banks had similar reactions.

The revival of the Glass-Steagall act is one of the few bipartisan pieces of Trump’s agenda.

The regulation was dismantled in 1999 after the merger of Citibank and Traveler’s Insurance.

Even notorious Wall Street critic Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced a “21st-century” version of the bill in the Senate this year, along with John McCain (R-Ariz.).

“My fantasy is to break up the big banks,” billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin said at a financial conference in Beverly Hills on Monday.

Ty Trippet, a spokesman for Bloomberg, said the news outlet stands by its story.