RTRS: US STOCKS-Wall St falls on earnings caution, bank jitters
Wall Street fell at the open on Monday on worries that problems persist for the struggling banking sector and after Bank of America's results relied heavily on one-time items as credit quality deteriorated markedly.
* Financial shares faced pressure after Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) posted a big increase in troubled loans, while its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co helped quarterly profit more than double. (For details see [ID:nN20380236]).
* The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI dropped 121.79 points, or 1.50 percent, to 8,009.54. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX fell 15.67 points, or 1.80 percent, to 853.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC lost 31.30 points, or 1.87 percent, to 1,641.77.
