AM Report 15 June 18: US banks under rates and credit change pressures while media stocks rallied

US sharemarkets ended mixed on Thursday. Investors weighed takeover activity in the media sector, a stronger greenback, interest rate expectations in the US and Europe and strong data on consumer spending. Bank stocks fell by 0.9% as the European Central Bank kept easier policy settings in place for longer. Telecom, utilities and media rose. Twenty-First Century Fox rose 2.3% after Comcast offered $65 billion in an effort to out-bid Walt Disney's merger offer by 20%. The Dow Jones fell by 26 points or 0.1%. 

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