** Economy-sensitive U.S. large-cap bank stocks rise in volatile afternoon trading after the U.S. Federal Reserve cuts benchmark interest rates by 50 basis points; KBW Banks Index
up 0.8%
** JPMorgan Chase , Wells Fargo , Goldman Sachs , Morgan Stanley , Citigroup and Bank of America gain between 1% and 2.2%
** Rate cuts are expected to revitalize loan demand, deals activity and reduce unrealized losses on banks' balance sheets, boosting investor sentiment
** The Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by half of a percentage point, kicking off what is expected to be a steady easing of monetary policy
** Analysts expect bank stocks to remain volatile in the coming weeks driven by investor anxiety over the pace of U.S. Fed's rate cuts, worries of a soft vs hard landing for the economy and election uncertainty
** JPM, the largest U.S. bank by assets and the sector's bellwether, earlier this month tempered the outlook for its earnings from interest payments due to expectations of declining rates
** BKX up 16.8% YTD but has lost 3.3% so far this month, through previous close, as investors weigh the impact of the monetary policy easing on profits
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Large-cap banks underperform broader markets
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(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru)
((Manya.Saini@thomsonreuters.com))
