Stocks Struggle, with Dow below 10,000. Dow Laggards: BAC, AXP, TRV, GE, and JPM

Published on Monday, 08 February 2010 14:17 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, February 8^th (TradersHuddle.com) - Stocks struggled, with the Dow below the 10,000 level mark.  Analyst upgrades and good corporate earnings boosted sentiment, while a weaker Dollar boosted commodities, offsetting concern over deteriorating government finances in the euro zone.

At 1:33 pm, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.31%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.14% and the NASDAQ gained 0.01%.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) led the Dow's advanced after Morgan Stanley raised its rating on the stock to "overweight" and added it to its "Best Ideas List." The analysts cited that the margins at the home improvement retailer should benefit as housing begins its recovery.

Financials were the biggest decliners. 19 of the 30 Dow components posted declines, with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) as the worst Dow component. Shares of the largest U.S. lender fell 2.77% to $14.58. Shares of JP Morgan, the 2^nd U.S. lender dropped 1.12% to $37.88, posting the fifth biggest decline in the Dow. Shares of financial services firms have been hit hard during the past days. Investors are concern on the impact of the sovereign debt woes on bank assets.

The second biggest decline in the blue chip index was American Express (NYSE:AXP), after shares of the card issuer and travel company lost 2.35% to $36.96. Consumer debt defaults fears added downward pressure to the stock

The third worst Dow component was Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV), as shares of the insurer fell 1.89% to $49.33. 

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) fell 1.65% to $15.52, posting the fourth biggest decline in the blue chip index. The diversified conglomerate maker of aircraft engines and financial services provider was under pressure as financials weakness weighted down the stock.