Bank stocks were little changed Monday; the American Banker index of 225 banking companies rose 0.1%.
Both the Standard & Poor's 500 index and the Dow Jones industrial average went up 0.2%.
Among declining bank stocks was Doral Financial Corp., a San Juan, Puerto Rico, company whose shares lost 7.2%. The company announced Jan. 3 that its nonexecutive chairman had resigned in a dispute over its future, and Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Friday cut its long-term ratings for Doral, reducing its counterparty rating to B from B-plus.
Other Puerto Rican bank companies gained, including Santander Bancorp, which increased 2.7%, and W Holding Co., up 4.4%.
Decliners included Republic Bancorp Inc. in Louisville, Ky., off 2.7%; New Century Financial in Irvine, Calif., 2.4%; and Freddie Mac in McLean, Va., 1.5%.
The big market news Monday was a speech by Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Donald Kohn who said it is "still too early'' for the Fed to relax about inflation as the economy expands.
The Fed also reported that consumer credit outstanding grew $12.3 billion in November, to $2.39 trillion, after a $1.3 billion slide in October. Overall consumer credit grew in November at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.2%, after October's 0.6% decline.
