Stocks lost ground Monday, as Wall Street ignored the Super Bowl rule.
The rule suggests that the stock market will do well in a year after one of the original National Football League teams wins the Super Bowl.
Despite Sunday’s surprise win by the New York Giants, an original NFL team, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 108.03 points, to 12,635.16.
JPMorgan and American Express were among the biggest contributors to the Dow’s loss, after analysts speculated that more trouble lies ahead of banks and credit card issuers.
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The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 14.60, to 1380.82; the Nasdaq composite index dropped 30.51, to 2382.85; the Russell 2000 small-company index fell 7.04, to 723.46.
Broker UBS issued a “sell” recommendation on American Express. Shares dropped $1.94, to $47.66. UBS also recommended that investors sell credit card issuers Capital One and Discover Financial Services.
Broker Stifel Nicolaus issued “sell” ratings on Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp, Sun Trust Banks and Colonial BancGroup.
Merck and Honeywell International were among the biggest Dow gainers.
Google, which is opposing a proposed acquisition of rival Yahoo by Microsoft, closed down $20.47, at $495.43. Yahoo rose 95 cents, to $29.33.
Several of the public companies that sponsored Super Bowl advertisements, including Ford, Coca-Cola, FedEx and E-Trade Financial, saw their share prices decline.
Treasury securities lost ground, despite recession fears, as traders awaited a $22 billion government auction of 10-year Treasury notes and 30-year Treasury bonds later this week.
Crude oil rose $1.06 a barrel, to $90.02.
Treasury auctions: Interest rates fell at Monday’s weekly auctions of 3- and 6-month Treasury bills.
The discount rate for 3-month bills was 2.23 percent, down from 2.31 percent a week ago. The rate on 6-month bills was 2.16 percent, down from 2.33 percent last week.