Stock rally fades to losses

[Italkcash Newsfeed]

Dow down 7%, Nasdaq dives 10%, S&P slides 9% in bailout-bill week.

Late sell-off pressures stocks, which finish the session and the week deep in the red. Early rally eases after rescue bill is passed.


The $700 billion plan, already approved by the Senate, was quickly signed into law.
The Nasdaq 100 After Hours Indicator rose 5 points, or 0.3%, to 1,475.89.
But financial stocks were mixed, with National City Corp. NCC 3.51, +0.37, +11.8% shares down 10% to $3.16 after Fitch Ratings cut the Cleveland-based bank's debt ratings and those of its National City Bank subsidiary, to BBB+ from A. The company's ratings were also placed on negative watch.
The agency cited the company's asset-quality issues and pressure on earnings as reasons for the downgrade, and said the company "will need continued focus on maintaining its strong liquidity."
AIG (AIG:American International Group, Inc
(AIG 3.86, -0.14, -3.5%) rose 3.1% to $3.98 and J.P. Morgan & Chase JPM 45.90, -3.95, -7.9%) rose 0.5% to $46.15.
Barclays BCS 24.71, +0.71, +3.0%) shares rose 0.6% to $24.85 in light volume after the Treasury Department said that it has hired Barclays Global Investors and State Street Bank and Trust Co. to manage its purchase of mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae FNM 1.34, -0.22, -14.1%and Freddie Mac FRE 1.49, -0.31, -17.2% . The department began purchasing the securities under legislation allowing the government to take over the two mortgage companies and are not part of the rescue package.
Shares of Wachovia Corp. WB 6.21, +2.30, +58.8% pared losses and were down 1.5% at $6.12. They shot up 59% in the regular session after Wells Fargo & Co. WFC 34.56, -0.60, -1.7% agreed to buy the firm for about $15 billion.
Wells Fargo shares were unchanged at $6.21. Late Friday, Moody's Investors Service cut the company's outlook to negative.
Citigroup Inc. shares C 18.35, -4.15, -18.4% rose 1.6% to $18.65, coming off a day-session decline of 18%. The company criticized the Wachovia-Wells Fargo deal, saying that it had exclusive rights to talks about a transaction.
Elsewhere, shares of electronics contract manufacturer Sanmina-SCI Corp. SANM 1.39, +0.04, +3.0% topped volume movers and reversed losses. They were unchanged at $1.39.

Stocks finished the regular session and the week sharply lower as investors began to turn their attention back the Labor Department's report that the U.S. economy lost 159,000 jobs in September, the worst since March 2003.

Source: Marketwatch.com