Banks take drubbing, PNC leads fall
By Greg Morcroft, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 3:17 PM ET July 18, 2002
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Financial stocks surrendered early gains Thursday as a big loss in PNC hit banking shares and brokers dipped with the broader market.
The Amex Securities Broker/Dealer Index ($XBD: news, chart, profile) slipped 0.6 percent, while the Philadelphia Bank Sector Index ($BKX: news, chart, profile) fell 2.3 percent, weighed down by an almost 15 percent drop in PNC (PNC: news, chart, profile) shares.
The Pittsburgh-based financial services giant agreed Thursday to a cease-and-desist order with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC said PNC improperly removed $762 million in troubled assets from its balance sheet by transferring them to special purpose entities in violation of GAAP accounting standards.
Citigroup (C: news, chart, profile), the nation's largest bank, added 0.6 percent, or 22 cents to $37.15 after reporting solid second-quarter earnings Wednesday and receiving some positive comments from analysts.
Also Thursday Saudi royal and closely watched investor Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal said Thursday he raised his stake in Citigroup by $500 million, to more than $10 billion.
He was already the largest investor in Citigroup.
Last March, Prince Alwaleed invested $500 million in Citigroup, saying at the time, "Citi's share price was at too attractive a price."
Among the top brokers, Merrill Lynch (MER: news, chart, profile) dipped 11, cents, or 0.3 percent to $38.02; Morgan Stanley (MWD: news, chart, profile) slipped 2.2 percent or 88 cents to $39.02 and Goldman Sachs (GS: news, chart, profile) rose $1.28, a 1.7 percent jump, to $76.76.
Greg Morcroft is New York news editor of CBS.MarketWatch.com. |
