Financial stocks sagged in premarket trading Tuesday, as the first day of trading in the second half appears headed in the same direction that nearly led to a bear market over the first six months of the year.
Speculation that Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the nation's fourth-largest investment bank, could be acquired by Britain's Barclays PLC at a discount sent shares of Lehman down as much as 60 cents to $19.40 in premarket action. Barclays' American Depositary Shares, or ADRs, are off 4.9 percent in the early going. Both sides declined to comment on the speculation.
ADRs of UBS AG fell 5.1 percent to $19.60 after the Swiss banking giant said it would shake up its board room for a second time since suffering heavy losses in the U.S. subprime crisis.
Fortune Brands Inc., maker of spirits and home products, fell 6.8 percent to $62.41 after lowering its outlook late Monday, due to a slowdown in consumer spending and an unexpected Australian tax increase.
A downgrade of two specialized semiconductor makers by Jefferies & Co. sent shares of Altera Corp. down 3.6 percent to $19.96. Analyst John Lau lowered his rating to "Underperform" from "Hold," saying Altera and Xilinx Inc. "have morphed from growth to just cyclical stocks." Xilinx shares lost 3.1 percent to $24.46.
CIT Group Inc. said it will sell its home lending business to Lone Star Funds for $1.5 billion in cash, and $4.4 billion of assumed debt, to focus on its commercial finance operations. CIT shares jumped 13.1 percent to $7.70 from Monday's closing price of $6.81.
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