(Updates close with WellPoint's slide after the bell and
Nasdaq's latest volume)
By Justin Grant
NEW YORK, March 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell for a
third session on Monday, as investors dumped financial shares
on fears of more credit losses and concerns that the U.S.
economy may already be in recession.
The sell-off in financial stocks picked up speed after
rumors circulated that Bear Stearns Co Inc <BSC.N> was facing
a cash shortage. The brokerage called the speculation "totally
ridiculous," but Bear Stearns shares still ended the day down
11.1 percent at $62.30.
Financials were among the top drags as the Bear Stearns
rumors strengthened the conviction that banks would report
further deep credit losses. Shares of Bank of America Corp
<BAC.N> fell 3.9 percent to $35.31, while rival Citigroup Inc
<C.N> slid 5.8 percent to $19.69.
Shares of health insurers fell after the bell as WellPoint
Inc <WLP.N> cut its 2008 profit outlook, citing
higher-than-expected medical costs and lower-than-expected
enrollment.
Texas Instruments' <TXN.N> stock also sank after the
market closed as the company cut its first-quarter profit and
revenue outlook. The news also hurt other chip makers and may
weigh on Nasdaq in Tuesday trading.
Adding to the market's woes, gold futures and other metal
prices sank, pulling down shares of mining companies such as
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc <FCX.N>, which fell 5.9
percent to $93.97. Material stocks were among the S&P's top
decliners.
"There's kind of an overhang of concerns about weakening
U.S. economic conditions spreading globally," said Frederic
Dickson, a market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co in Lake
Oswego, Oregon.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> tumbled 153.54
points, or 1.29 percent, to close at 11,740.15 in its seventh
decline in its last eight sessions.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> shed 20.00 points,
or 1.55 percent, to finish trading at 1,273.37. The Nasdaq
Composite Index <> dropped 43.15 points, or 1.95 percent,
to close at 2,169.34.
Shares of WellPoint fell 19 percent to $54.50 in
after-hours trading, while Aetna Inc <AET.N> dropped 11.2
percent to $41.70 and UnitedHealth Group Inc <UNH.N> sank 9.3
percent to $41.00.
In other trading after the bell, Texas Instruments shares
slid 2.6 percent to $28.53.
"I think what we're seeing with the industrial companies
is that there's just more growing concern about economic
slowdown cutting into international industrial business,"
Dickson said.
Recession concerns hit shares of big manufacturers,
including Boeing Co <BA.N>, which led the Dow's decliners with
a drop of 2.9 percent to $74.38. General Motors Co <GM.N> fell
4.9 percent to $20.89 after a Lehman Brothers analyst said
major automakers are at risk of being squeezed by both
declining sales and rising commodity prices.
Citigroup, another big Dow loser, forecast $9 billion in
write-downs at U.S. investment banks in the first quarter,
driven largely by leveraged loan and mortgage-related losses.
Among gainers, shares of Dow component McDonald's Corp
<MCD.N> climbed 2.9 percent to $53.80 after the world's
largest hamburger chain said sales at established stores
jumped 11.7 percent globally in February.
Volume was moderate on the New York Stock Exchange, where
about 1.61 billion shares changed hands, below last year's
estimated daily average of 1.9 billion shares. On the Nasdaq,
about 2.15 billion shares traded, just below last year's daily
average of 2.17 billion.
Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of more than 5 to 1 and more than 3 to 1 on the
Nasdaq.
