(Updates to early afternoon, changes byline)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, March 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell in choppy
trade on Monday as fears of more fallout from the housing slump
hit financial shares, overshadowing an advance in the energy
sector on record oil prices.
Shares of Citigroup Inc <C.N> and Bank of America Corp
<BAC.N> were the top financial drags on the S&P 500.
Earlier Banc of America Securities cut first-quarter profit
estimates and price targets on four large U.S. investment
banks, including Goldman Sachs <GS.N>, citing the worsening
losses in the equity markets.
Investors worry that more fallout from the U.S. housing
slump will hurt the financial sector's profits as credit losses
swell and lending is curtailed, further weakening the outlook
for the economy and raising the chances of recession.
Shares of Goldman, the largest U.S. securities firm, were
down nearly 2 percent. Oppenheimer and Co., another brokerage,
slashed its profit views on the brokerage sector.
Mortgage lender Thornburg Mortgage Inc <TMA.N> said it has
failed to meet a surge in margin calls, raising concern that
the jumbo mortgage lender might file for bankruptcy. Its stock
plunged 56 percent.
"I don't think we really know where we are with the fallout
from subprime," said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at
NorthStar Investment Management Corp. in Chicago. "The losses
keep mounting."
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was down 18.64
points, or 0.15 percent, at 12,247.75. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was up 0.68 points, or 0.05 percent, at
1,331.31. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was down 7.93
points, or 0.35 percent, at 2,263.55.
Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N> rose 0.7 percent to
$87.57 after U.S. crude for April delivery hit a record of
$103.95 on the New York Mercantile Exchange as the dollar
weakened and global commodity prices rallied.
Citigroup shares dropped 2.7 percent to $23.06 on the New
York Stock Exchange, while Bank of America, the largest U.S.
bank by market value, declined 1.5 percent to $39.14.
Shares of Goldman Sachs were down 1.9 percent at $166.40
while JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N> dropped 1.7 percent to $39.98
on the NYE.
Thornburg Mortgage shares tumbled to $3.85.
Boeing Co <BA.N> was the biggest drag on the Dow after the
plane maker lost a multibillion-dollar U.S. Air Force contract
to competitors. For details, see [] Boeing shares
fell 2.9 percent to $80.36.
On the Nasdaq, shares of Qualcomm Inc <QCOM.O> led
declines, with a loss of 3.4 percent to $40.98 after Nokia
<NOK1V.HE>, the world's top mobile phone maker, won its second
patent case against the U.S. chipmaker. []
In economic news, an index of national manufacturing
activity from the Institute for Supply Management fell in
February, but the decline was not as steep as economists'
forecasts.
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
