Bank Stocks Take a Nosedive

Although the Dow Jones started the day up after Sunday’s news that North Korea’s leader Kim Jung Il had passed away, the market quickly erased the gains as bank stocks dragged the markets down.

For the first time in three years Bank of America dropped below $5, while the Dow Jones dropped over 100 points.

The overall drop followed cautious comments by Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, on the state of Europe’s economy. Draghi is still reluctant to buy more bonds of European Union governments, according to Reuters. He also said that next year would be difficult for banks.

Then European Union Finance Ministers could only agree on providing $195 billion in aid through the International Monetary Fund instead of $261 billion.

The Wall Street Journal

Bank stocks then fell after reported that the Fed was “set to embrace rules by regulators in Basel, Switzerland, requiring major financial institutions to hold extra capital.”

Other bank stocks that shed a lot were Citigroup Inc., which was down almost 5% at the end of the day, and JP Morgan Chase & Co., which was down 3.73%. Morgan Stanely was down 5.47%.