Bank stocks fell with the broad market Tuesday in a downturn that snared even mortgage lenders despite a continued drop in the yield on the 10-year Treasury note.
Fannie Mae dipped 1.6% and Freddie Mac 1.3%. Golden West Financial Corp. fell 0.6% and Washington Mutual Inc. 0.4%
The American Banker index of 225 banks closed down 0.8%, while the Nasdaq bank index slid 0.4% and the Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 0.6%.
Few stocks gained ground, though shares of Waypoint Financial Corp. jumped 11% after Sovereign Bancorp Inc. of Philadelphia announced it had agreed to buy the Harrisburg, Pa., company for $980 million. That news may have lifted shares of other banking companies commonly perceived as potential acquisition targets.
Astoria Financial Corp. of Lake Success, N.Y., for example, rose 1.7%, though analysts said it was not clear that the Sovereign deal was the reason.
Independence Community Bank Corp. rose 1.9% after the Brooklyn, N.Y., company said its shareholders had approved its deal to buy Staten Island Bancorp Inc. Staten Island’s shares were up 1.1%.
Some mortgage companies were up slightly -- Countrywide Financial Corp. rose 0.5%. The Calabasas, Calif., company had fallen Monday even though the 10-year Treasury yield dropped sharply.
Consumer finance stocks were among the biggest losers, along with brokers and the group of trust and processing companies, despite favorable notice from Lehman Brother analysts Brock Vandervliet.
