The biggest decliners of the day have been under fire for accounting-related issues. JP Morgan Chase & Co lost US$0.95 to US$28.19 after the Wall Street Journal reported the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is reviewing trades that appear to relate to an offshore entity set up by Chase Manhattan Bank a decade ago.
Computer Associates International Inc dropped US$2.91 to US$15.99, its lowest in seven years. Chief Executive Sanjay Kumar said the federal government is probing the software maker. Newsday Wednesday reported the US attorney is looking into how the company recorded sales of software and maintenance fees.
Kumar said the company's accounting is proper.
American International Group Inc declined US$71 to US$70.33 and Tyco International Ltd fell US$0.50 to US$27.50, extending its decline this year to 53 percent. Both have suffered because of accounting questions.
"The accounting story just gets more intense every day," said Barry Hyman, investment strategist at Ehrenkrantz King Nussbaum. "JP Morgan's partnerships with Enron raise the question of how deep this story gets."
Other financial companies fell with JP Morgan Chase after UBS Warburg LLC analyst Diane Glossman cut profit estimates for Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and Merrill Lynch & Co, as well as JP Morgan. She said mergers and stock sales won't pick up until corporate executives are confident the economy is rebounding.
Goldman Sachs fell US$0.47 to US$79 and Lehman declined US$0.41 to US$55.44 while Merrill Lynch rose US$0.24 to US$46.95.
BEA Systems Inc, whose software delivers computer programs over the Web, fell US$0.95 to US$14.86. The company said fiscal fourth-quarter profit dropped 44 percent as sales declined and the company paid severance to workers it fired.
Circuit City Stores Inc declined US$7.04, or 30 percent, to US$16.55. The second-largest US electronics retailer cut its fiscal fourth-quarter profit estimates for the electronics business and said it will spin off CarMax Group.
Microsoft Corp shed US$0.06 to US$57.99 after the company disclosed "critical" security flaws affecting at least six products, including its Windows XP operating system and Internet Explorer browser.
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