Net interest margin pressure, modest loan growth and limited operating leverage could weigh on bank stocks in 2020, UBS analysts said.

Low rates and spotty loan demand mean banks are having to “dig deeper” to improve efficiency and maintain profit margins.

The fresh optimism is starting to outweigh some of the worries hanging over the sector heading into the new year.

The Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. found issues with the firms' ability to compile data on how they would be unwound during a period of financial stress.

One-time expenses at a handful of large banks marred an otherwise solid quarter, while higher charge-offs point to possible credit-quality concerns.

Profits dipped 7% from a year earlier but banks still earned nearly $60 billion, the agency said in its Quarterly Banking Profile.

Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said the U.S. has no need for negative interest rates because its economy is strong, unlike other regions that have employed the tricky strategy.

Bank of America says in a 23-page report that it has boosted the percentage of women and people of color among senior management and hired thousands of people from low- and moderate-income communities.

First Horizon, Iberiabank in year's second-biggest bank merger; bank failure in New Jersey is nation's third in a week; smaller banks take a turn swinging the ax; and more from this week's most-read stories.

This summer, an international electronics company completed a $1.6 billion payment by mobile phone, the biggest transaction ever on the bank's CashPro app, according to Bank of America.