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subject Stocks Slip, Rate Fears Hit Financials
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. blue-chip stocks declined on Monday, with interest-rate sensitive shares such as banks falling before a likely rate rise on Tuesday, but a small spate of deals among tech names limited the Nasdaq's losses. Among falling stocks were financial services companies and others that can be sensitive to rising interest rates. Citigroup Inc. (C.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) fell 2.4 percent to $45.72 and Bank of America Corp. (BAC.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) shed 1.6 percent to $44.22. The Federal Reserve's policy-making committee meets on Tuesday and a quarter-point hike to 2.75 percent is expected. More important will be whether the Fed continues to assert that policy can be tightened at a measured pace. There has been some speculation that the measured word might be dropped. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 68 points, or 0.64 percent, at 10,562 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 7 points, or 0.60 percent, at 1,183. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 6 points, or 0.28 percent, at 2,002. However, stocks trimmed a substantial portion of their losses when they fell earlier in the day to session lows. Earlier, both the Dow Jones industrial average and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index touched 7-week intraday lows, while the Nasdaq hit its lowest intraday level since Nov. 4 last year. We're definitely oversold and were due for a bounce and I think that's the little lift we got earlier, said Neil Massa, senior trader at John Hancock Funds. But ... until we know what the Fed's going to do tomorrow -- the question is whether they take away the 'measured' pace -- it's more of a wait and see until then. U.S. crude oil futures were slightly lower, with April delivery crude (CLJ5: Quote , Profile , Research ) down 13 cents at $56.59, and pulling back after an earlier rise above $57 a barrel. While that helped stocks pare their losses by easing worries about higher corporate costs and slack consumer spending, energy stocks were lower. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) fell 0.9 percent to $62.10. Among other decliners, American International Group Inc. (AIG.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) slid 3.2 percent to $57.86 amid concerns about government probes into the insurance giant and the forced departure last week of Maurice Greenberg as chief executive. But troubled automaker General Motors Corp. (GM.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) rose 3.4 percent to $29.60. The Wall Street Journal reported that GM planned to slash its North American white-collar work force. Technology companies were helped by a spate of deals, which one trader said boosted hopes of further consolidation. Web-search service Ask Jeeves Inc. (ASKJ.O: Quote , Profile , Research ) . Ask Jeeves jumped 16 percent to $28.16 after IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI.O: Quote , Profile , Research ) , the Internet conglomerate run by media mogul Barry Diller, said it plans to buy the company. IAC fell 3.9 percent to $21.43. Meanwhile, SunGard Data Systems Inc. (SDS.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) , a financial services technology company, rose 24 percent to $30.99 after it said it is in talks to sell the company to an unnamed buyer.
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