Another Rocky Day for Mortgage Stocks

Ten of 15 mortgage stocks routinely tracked by MortgageWire declined amid a broad stock market selloff on Wednesday.The government-sponsored enterprises were among the biggest losers, with Fannie Mae closing at $37.46, down $2.52, or 6.3%. Freddie Mac's shares fell to $32.74, down $1.33, or 3.9%. But some big lenders bucked the trend. IndyMac Bancorp saw its shares rise by $0.53, or 8.91%. Washington Mutual and Countrywide Financial saw their shares rise by less than 1% on a day when the Dow Jones industrial average slid by 220 points, or 1.67%. Contributing to the stock selloff were renewed concerns about credit quality, higher oil prices, and a report highlighting weakness in manufacturing. National City Corp. helped stoke the credit concerns, announcing additional layoffs in its mortgage operations and slashing its dividend nearly in half. The company's shares fell by 5.29% during the trading day on Jan. 2. By midday Thursday, the Dow had rebounded nearly 80 points.