Wednesday, October 10, 2012

As financials slip, Travelers rally supports Dow

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) � Shares of Bank of America Corp and First Horizon National Corp. weighed on the financial sector Thursday following a busy day of earnings releases.

Click to Play Morgan Stanley results top forecasts

Morgan Stanley swings to a first-quarter loss as the investment bank shoulders heavy losses tied to changes in the value of its debt, but other key measures top forecasts.

Bank of America BAC shares closed down 1.7% as results showed first-quarter profit slumped 68% after the Dow Jones Industrial Average component accounted for debt-related charges. Earlier in the day, shares were up as much as 2.8%. Read �Big-bank earnings go out with a whimper.�

Bank of America had a profit of $653 million, down from $2.05 billion earned in the first quarter of 2011, as per-share earnings fell to 3 cents from 17 cents. The latest quarter included, among other items, a $4.8 billion pre-tax hit tied to changes in the value of the bank�s debt. See full MarketWatch coverage of Bank of America

The worst performer in the sector, and the S&P 500 Index, was First Horizon National Corp. FHN �with shares closing down 7.8%.

First Horizon reported a 24% decline in earnings on a rise in loan-loss provisions. Read more on First Horizon.

Other banks were down following the release of earnings.

Fifth Third Bancorp FITB �shares fell 3.1% after the bank reported its first quarter earnings. Read more on Fifth Third.

KeyCorp KEY �shares fell 1% after the bank said first-quarter profit fell 32% from a year ago. Read more on KeyCorp.

BB&T Corp. BBT shares closed down 0.6% even after the firm reported an earnings jump of 92% on lower costs and strong commercial lending demand. Read more on BB&T.

On the flip side, shares of Travelers Cos. TRV �and Morgan Stanley MS �closed higher.

Dow DJIA �component Travelers�boosted its dividend Thursday as first-quarter profit exceeded analyst expectations and the company continued to raise prices.

Shares of the firm, one of the largest insurers of U.S. businesses, closed up 3.8% at $61.70. Read more on Travelers.

/quotes/zigman/627449 DJIA 12,943.82, +72.43, +0.56% /quotes/zigman/190927/quotes/nls/bac BAC 8.06, +0.01, +0.12% /quotes/zigman/217470/quotes/nls/axp AXP 59.41, +0.56, +0.95% /quotes/zigman/455344/quotes/nls/trv TRV 64.13, +0.21, +0.33%

Shares of Morgan Stanley MS �closed up 2.3% at $18.07 after the firm reported first-quarter financial results that topped analysts� consensus estimates.

Morgan Stanley reported a loss of $94 million, compared with a year-earlier profit of $968 million. On a per-share basis, which reflects the payment of preferred dividends, the bank reported a loss of 6 cents compared with a profit of 50 cents a year ago.

Stripping out a $2 billion impact tied to changes in the value of the bank�s debt, the bank booked a per-share profit of 71 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected earnings of 44 cents a share, excluding the debt-related adjustment. Read more on Morgan Stanley.

In the broader market, the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF XLF ,�which tracks the financial stocks in the S&P 500 Index SPX SPX , fell 0.5%. The KBW Bank Index BKX , which tracks the 24 leading U.S. banks, fell 0.8%.

Elsewhere in the Dow, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. JPM �fell 0.2% and American Express Co. AXP �fell 0.8%. American Express reported first-quarter results following Wednesday�s market close.

Aon PLC AON �shares rose 1.8% after the insurer raised its dividend 5% and launched a new stock buyback plan. Read more on Aon.

American International Group Inc. AIG �shares dropped 1% after the insurer revised its 2010 and 2011 results because of deferred acquisition costs. Read more on AIG.

After market close Thursday, Capital One Financial Corp. COF rose 2% in after-hours activity after posting a profit of $2.74 a share, or $1.56 a share excluding a gain from acquiring ING Direct. Shares had closed down 0.6%. Read more on Capital One.

Additionally, Chubb Corp. CB and E-Trade Financial Corp. ETFC �reported quarterly results after the closing bell.

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