1623 GMT - European banks wiped out their gains for the year amid a sharp sector downturn Friday. A basket of European banking stocks falls 3%--having gained 1.3% for the year to Thursday's close--with major names falling sharply. Societe Generale is down 5.3% in Paris, while German giants Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank fall 5.2% and 3.6%, respectively. In Spain, Santander and BBVA slide 2.5% and 3.2%, while Italian lender UniCredit is down 3.75%. Barclays falls 2.3% in London. Banks are the latest victims of marauding fears around artificial-intelligence competition, Panmure Liberum's Joachim Klement says. "The AI loser theme has spread to banks. People are selling now, asking questions later," Klement adds. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 13, 2026 11:23 ET (16:23 GMT)

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