BUZZ-US big banks tick lower tracking broader market decline

** Shares of U.S. big banks Goldman Sachs GS.N, JPMorgan Chase JPM.N, Wells Fargo WFC.N, Bank of America BAC.N, and Morgan Stanley MS.N fall in afternoon trading

** GS down 0.5%, JPM falls 0.6%, WFC down 0.96%, BAC down 0.4%, MS falls 0.4%

** Wall Street's main indexes fell on Thursday as a surge in crude prices revived inflation fears and the Federal Reserve's cautious stance on interest rate cuts weighed on sentiment .N

** U.S. regulators on Thursday unveiled softened capital rules which would lower Wall Street banks' capital down to 4.8%, freeing billions for lending, dividends, and buybacks

** Capital levels at larger regional banks would fall by 5.2%, while banks below $100 ​billion in assets would enjoy a 7.8% decline in their capital requirements

** "While the changes are intended to improve risk sensitivity, efficiency, and alignment with international standards, we would view a decline in overall capital as a credit negative" - Moody's

** Overhaul follows years of industry campaigning to ease post‑2008 rules

(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru)

((Pragyan.Kalita@thomsonreuters.com;))