Aug 12, 2008 2:08 pm US/Central
Stocks Fall Amid Financial Sector Concerns
NEW YORK (AP) ―
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A trader looks at his monitor before the opening bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (File)
Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
Wall Street slid Tuesday as downbeat news from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other financial companies raised more concerns about the ongoing impact of the credit crisis on the economy. The Dow Jones industrials fell more than 130 points.
The latest reminder of continuing troubles for banks and brokerages came when JPMorgan said late Monday it has incurred wider losses in its mortgage holdings so far in the third quarter than in the second quarter. The nation's second-largest bank by assets said in a regulatory filing it lost $1.5 billion, after hedges, in its mortgage-backed securities and loans this quarter, compared to $1.1 billion in the second three months of 2008.
The losses were proof to investors that the financial sector's problems don't seem to be near a resolution.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. fell after several analysts lowered their ratings and earnings estimates for the investment bank. And UBS AG, Switzerland's largest bank, reported further losses and write-downs of $5.1 billion during the second quarter.
The market's losses were mitigated for part of the session by a drop in the price of oil an illustration of the ongoing push-and-pull in the market between oil prices and any news about financials. The financial companies' problems had sent the Dow down more than 120 points in early trading Tuesday before the drop in oil lifted the Dow off its lows; the market then gave in to its financial worries as the afternoon wore on.
Oil trading was buffeted by several factors: differing views on whether global demand is falling or rising, and word from BP PLC that it had shut down an oil pipeline that runs through Georgia as a precautionary measure due to the fighting between Georgian and Russian troops. Light, sweet crude settled down $1.44 at $113.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil has fallen more than $30 from its July 11 high of $147.27, easing concerns on Wall Street about inflation.
"Some of the big bellwether financial-services companies are precipitating the correction that we're seeing," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors of Tuesday's retreat by stocks. Still, he said the run-up in stocks since oil began falling last month has made occasional retrenchments not unexpected.
In late afternoon trading, the Dow fell 133.20, or 1.13 percent, to 11,649.15.
Broader stock indicators were lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 13.63, or 1.04 percent, to 1,291.69, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 9.16, or 0.38 percent, to 2,430.79.
Bond prices rose as stocks fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.93 percent from 4.00 percent late Monday.
The dollar was higher against most other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
A Commerce Department report showed the nation's trade deficit shrank in June, rather than growing as expected. The trade imbalance dropped 4.1 percent to $56.8 billion in June from a revised May deficit of $59.2 billion, as exports rose to an all-time high. It was the smallest deficit in three months and was better than the $61.5 billion Wall Street expected.
Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research, said that any good news of the day was simply overshadowed by the latest concerns about the financial services sector.
"The financial worries have just crept back in," Detrick said. "But, given the rally we had last week, we're still holding on if you look at the big picture. We were due for some kind of a break."
The Dow had gained 350 points over the previous two sessions.
JPMorgan fell $3.22, or 7.7 percent, to $38.65. Despite its slide Tuesday, some investors likely saw its losses as relatively small compared with the more than $300 billion that financial institutions have written down over all in the past year.
Goldman Sachs declined $9.52, or 5.4 percent, to $168.44 after the downgrades in some of its analyst ratings.
Wachovia Corp. fell $1.84, or 10.1 percent, to $16.36 after it announced plans to cut 600 more jobs than it previously expected as it tries to slash costs because of losses on mortgage debt. The bank also said in a quarterly regulatory filing that it has recorded an additional $500 million in legal reserves related to its settlement discussions with regulators concerning the sale of auction-rate securities.
UBS fell $1.26, or 5.8 percent, to $20.43. The company also said Tuesday it will separate its divisions such as its private bank and its investment bank to bolster investor confidence.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 662.5 million shares.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 3.98, or 0.53 percent, to 747.08.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.95 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.13 percent, Germany's DAX index declined 0.36 percent and France's CAC-40 fell 0.44 percent.
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