This morning, many of the leading financial stocks are declining lower at the start of the trading session. The large financial stock sector has been the darling of the market over the past 52 weeks. After all, the large financial stocks have benefited greatly from all of the actions taken by the Federal Reserve. Remember, since December 2008 the fed funds rate has been at zero percent. If this sector declines it is safe to say that the stock market will decline.
Today, leading financial stock Morgan Stanley (MS) is leading the declines in the financial sector. Earlier it was reported that Morgan Stanley received regulatory approval to purchase the remaining 35 percent interest in Smith Barney from Citigroup Inc. (C). Day traders can watch for intra-day support on MS stock around the $24.00, and $23.67 levels. Swing traders should watch for daily chart support around the $22.85 level.
Some other leading financial stocks that are declining lower today include Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Citigroup Inc. (C), Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and BlackRock, Inc. (BLK). Despite the recent pullback in the large financial stocks this sector still remains the strongest industry group in the market.