Financial Stocks Hit 2011 Low

U.S. stocks gave up all of their July gains on Monday, with the Dow posting a triple-digit decline, while financials weighed on the S&P 500 .

The S&P Financials sector hit the low of the year this morning, falling below the lows set last month. Indeed, the sector is now at its lowest level since November 30. Financial stocks are down nearly 9 percent in 2011, far underperforming gains in the rest of the markets (The S&P 500 is up 3.65 percent this year):

The weakness in financials comes on the heels of earnings quality concerns following Citigroup and JPMorgan’s better-than-expected earnings reports last week. Those banks beat estimates, but enhanced their results by the release of loan loss reserves, an expense set aside as an allowance for bad loans.

U.S. stocks gave up all of their July gains on Monday, with the Dow posting a triple-digit decline, while financials weighed on the S&P 500 .

The S&P Financials sector hit the low of the year this morning, falling below the lows set last month. Indeed, the sector is now at its lowest level since November 30. Financial stocks are down nearly 9 percent in 2011, far underperforming gains in the rest of the markets (The S&P 500 is up 3.65 percent this year):

Nell Redmond

A Bank of America branch.

Bank of America hit a 2-year low this morning, falling below $10 ahead of its earnings report on Tuesday morning. The last time that stock closed below $10 was back on May 1, 2009. Other U.S. financials hitting new 52-week lows today include: Morgan Stanley (MS), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Comerica (CMA).

Renewed concerns ahead of the EU summit on Greece later this week is also weighing on financials here in the U.S. and especially in Europe.

European banks are all down 3-6 percent today, with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Barclays (BCS), and Credit Suisse (CS) all at new 52-week lows. Other major European banks like Deutsche Bank (DB), UBS (UBS), Santander (STD), ING Groep (ING) are all at 6-7 month lows.

Here’s a look at the double-digit losses for many of the major financial stocks this year:

U.S. stocks gave up all of their July gains on Monday, with the Dow posting a triple-digit decline, while financials weighed on the S&P 500 .

The S&P Financials sector hit the low of the year this morning, falling below the lows set last month. Indeed, the sector is now at its lowest level since November 30. Financial stocks are down nearly 9 percent in 2011, far underperforming gains in the rest of the markets (The S&P 500 is up 3.65 percent this year):

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