Monday, July 23, 2012

Financials feel sting of European chaos (MS; XLF; GS)

Well, we got the answer to Friday's "Equities: Why Aren't the Financials Leading (XLF; SPY)":
Although the S&P was up on Wednesday and Thursday the S&P Financials ETF was down. A two day divergence isn't the end of the world but is something to store in the reptile brain as we maybe move toward the edge of the dance floor.
Just in case....
The XLF is down 1.7% at $14.13.
From MarketWatch:
U.S. financial stocks tumbled on Monday morning as the global equities rout that began in Asia and continued throughout Europe moved across the Atlantic. 

Morgan Stanley MS -3.64%   led decliners, falling more than 3% after the worst news out of Europe in several weeks again showed the market’s sensitivity to unresolved issues in Greece and Spain. 

The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF  which tracks the S&P 500’s financial stocks, fell 1.4%. 

Among the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s  financial stocks, Bank of America Corp. BAC -2.07%   J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., JPM -0.80% , American Express Co. AXP -1.88%   and Travelers Cos. TRV -2.33%  all fell. 

Italian and Spanish stocks tanked with banks dropping sharply Monday, as sovereign-bond yields skyrocketed amid renewed fears about the future of the euro zone and worries about debt problems in Spain and Greece. 

Trading in major Italian banks was suspended for about an hour during the morning after their shares incurred steep drops....MORE