Stocks fell today as waves of bad news from the financial sector battered investor sentiment, MarketWatch reports. Equities lost value despite a $1.44 drop in the price of oil, reversing what has recently been a consistent inverse relationship. The Dow fell 139.88 to 11,642.47, the Nasdaq 9.34 to 2,430.61, and the S&P 500 15.73 to 1,289.59.
Financial stocks plummeted as JP Morgan disclosed $1.5 billion in mortgage-related losses over the last 6 weeks, and its credit woes show no sign of abating. Wachovia added to its Q2 loss a $500 million settlement it’s likely to incur for its part in the auction-rate security mess. UBS reported a Q2 loss of over $300 million.
(More Dow Jones stories.)