Community Banks Lead Mortgage Stocks

Even though the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 138 points on Monday, regaining much of what it lost on Friday, mortgage stocks had a more mixed picture. Of the 17 Mortgage Industry Equity Composite stocks, nine were down for the day and eight were up.

Of the top five gainers on a percentage basis, four were community banks in the New York metropolitan area: OceanFirst Financial, 3.75%, Astoria Financial, 1.93%, Dime Community, 1.67%, and Hudson City Bancorp, 1.29%. The only interloper was Home Loan Servicing Solutions, the fourth largest gainer of the day at 1.62%.

The stock with largest decline was KB Home, down 2.98%. Then came tech companies Ellie Mae, down 2.81%, and CoreLogic, down 2.63%.