The sharp fall in the share prices of Bank of America and Merrill Lynch this week is not expected to derail the merger between the two US banks announced last month as the deal makes strong strategic sense, analysts and stockholders said on Thursday.

During morning trading on Thursday, BofA shares were down 2.5 per cent to $21.55, more than a third below the price at which the all-stock deal was struck a month ago. At that time, BofA shares were at $33.74, valuing Merrill Lynch at $50bn. But if the deal closed at Thursday morning’s price of $21.55, Merrill’s value would drop to $32bn.