MW: Financial stocks lower after Morgan reports loss
BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Financial stocks opened Wednesday in negative territory after Morgan Stanley reported a fourth-quarter loss of $2.3 billion as the firm took more write-downs on soured investments. Morgan Stanley shares slipped 4% in early action while the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund an exchange-traded fund indexed to financial stocks, lost 2%. Citigroup Inc. was down about 3% after the Financial Times reported the troubled company will merge its investment and commercial banking operations as it tries to ride out the credit storm.
