Fed's Taper Expansion Drives Mortgage Stocks Lower

News that the Federal Reserve will cut its bond purchases by an additional $10 billion per month sent the stock market spiraling lower on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 190 points from Tuesday's close. Stocks tracked by National Mortgage News also took a beating, as 14 of the 17 members of the Mortgage Industry Equity Composite closed lower.

KB Home led the gainers, up 1.6%, followed by OceanFirst Financial Corp, up 0.5%.

Hudson City Bancorp gained 0.4% on the day after reporting 4Q13 earnings of $46 million.

It announced the merger agreement with M&T Bank Corp. has been amended to extend the termination date to Dec. 31 from Jan. 31.

The agreement allows Hudson City to pursue certain strategic initiatives including originating more mortgages for sale on the secondary market and starting commercial real estate lending.

MGIC Investment Corp.'s stock closed over 4% lower, while Radian Group closed 3.5% lower and CoreLogic closed 2.5% lower.