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U.S. Stocks Drop on Bank Downgrades; Asia, Europe Shares Gain
By Eric Martin
Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks declined, paring the biggest weekly gain in
five years, after analysts advised selling Wells Fargo & Co. and Wachovia Corp.
on concern a recession will increase personal defaults and reduce consumer
spending.
Wells Fargo and Wachovia, the fourth- and fifth-largest U.S. banks, dropped
the most in two weeks as Merrill Lynch & Co. told investors they are
overpriced. American Express Co., the third- biggest credit-card network,
slumped after UBS AG said higher U.S. unemployment will reduce its profits.
Concern spending will slow also dragged down retailers such as Tiffany & Co.,
the No. 2 luxury jewelry seller.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 7.3, or 0.5 percent, to 1,388.12 as of
11:21 a.m. in New York after rallying 4.9 percent last week. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average, the best-performing benchmark among indexes in the 20
biggest markets last month, decreased 43.57, or 0.3 percent, to 12,699.62. The
Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 12.08, or 0.5 percent, to 2,401.28. About two
stocks declined for every one that advanced on the New York Stock Exchange.
``If economic growth is slowing, there may not be that much demand for
borrowed money,'' said John Carey, who oversees about $13 billion at Pioneer
Investment Management in Boston. ``The financial stocks make up a significant
part of the market and facilitate a lot of other business transactions.''
The losses came as stocks in Europe and Asia advanced, helped by takeover
speculation. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index of European shares rose 0.1 percent
after U.K. pub owner Mitchells & Butlers Plc received a merger proposal and
Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. said it held talks with ``strategic'' investors.
Higher Unemployment
Wells Fargo fell $1.74 to $31.91 and Wachovia dropped $2.31 to $36.45.
Merrill Lynch lowered its recommendations on the stocks to ``sell'' from
``neutral,'' citing the latest Case- Shiller data which showed ``rapidly
declining California real- estate values.'' They said the valuations of the
companies did not fully discount earnings and recession risk in 2008.
Citigroup Inc. dropped 32 cents to $29.37, Bank of America Corp. slipped 45
cents to $44.58 and JPMorgan Chase & Co. declined 90 cents to $47.36.
American Express decreased $1.68 to $47.92. UBS analysts led by New
York-based Eric E. Wasserstrom advised selling the shares because the recession
``will result in higher levels of unemployment in 2008-09, the primary driver
of credit losses.''
``American Express is tied to small businesses and consumers in terms of
spending,'' said Tim Smalls, head of U.S. trading at Execution LLC in
Greenwich, Connecticut. ``That's an ongoing issue. This market is going to be
choppy.''
Credit Cards
Shares of other credit card companies decreased. Discover Financial Services
slid $1.20 to $16.76. Capital One Financial Corp. dropped $4.24 to $52.73.
Humana Inc. lost $2.38 to $79.46. The No. 2 provider of U.S.-funded health
benefits fell the most since August on investor concern the next president may
cut insurance subsidies, according to Christine Arnold, an analyst with Morgan
Stanley in New York. The speculation overshadowed a 57 percent rise in
quarterly earnings.
KB Home plunged $2.35, or 8.2 percent, to $26.40. Chief Financial Officer
Domenico Cecere sold 80,000 shares of the fifth-largest U.S. homebuilder,
according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Dynegy Inc. gained 50 cents to $7.63, leading utilities shares higher. The
owner of power plants in 13 U.S. states advanced after Barron's said the
company's shares may double on increased cash flow and asset values.
Best Week
The decline in the S&P 500 followed the index's best weekly gain since 2003.
The Federal Reserve's second interest-rate cut in two weeks, Microsoft Corp.'s
$44.6 billion bid for Yahoo! Inc. and a plan to rescue bond insurers lifted
equities.
The S&P 500 climbed 4.9 percent last week, trimming its yearly loss to 5
percent. The Dow average has fallen 3.9 percent and the Nasdaq dropped 9
percent in 2008.
Job cuts announced by U.S. employers jumped 19 percent in January from a year
earlier as businesses attempted to rein in costs, according to a report by a
private placement firm.
Announcements increased to 74,986 last month from 62,975 in January 2007,
Chicago-based Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. said. The figures aren't
adjusted for seasonal effects, so economists prefer to focus on year-over-year
changes instead of monthly figures.
Companies may trim their workforce further as the worst housing slump in a
quarter century threatens to push the economy into a recession, economists
said. The report followed government figures last week that showed the U.S.
lost jobs in January for the first time in more than four years.
Stocks also fell after orders to U.S. factories rose less than economists
forecast. The orders increased 2.3 percent, the Commerce Department said, less
than the 2.5 percent median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.
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