Stocks declined today after Morgan Stanley posted a larger-than-expected loss for the fiscal fourth quarter. The KBW Banking Index fell 1.64% and the KBW Regional Banking Index fell 0.86%. The broader S&P 500 Index was down 0.96%.

The Bank Index was led by National City, PNC Financial Services Group, and Fifth Third Bancorp, which were down 7.77%, 6.54%, and 6.01%, respectively. The best performers of the day were State Street Corporation, BB&T Corporation, and Regions Financial Corporation, which had gains of 3.57%, 1.82%, and 0.80%.

Leading the Regional Banking Index lower were Fulton Financial Corporation, National Penn Bancshares, and SVB Financial Group, which were down 10.43%, 8.84%, and 8.59%, respectively. The best performers of the day were Wintrust Financial Corporation, South Financial Group, and First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, which had gains of 5.17%, 3.75%, and 3.71%.