Stocks declined today on poor economic data and light trading volume.  Sales of new homes fell in November to the slowest pace in almost 18 years, while prices also dropped.  The KBW Banking Index fell 2.00% and the KBW Regional Banking Index fell 1.03%. The broader S&P 500 Index was down 0.97%.

The Bank Index was led by Bank of America, BB&T Corporation, and SunTrust, which were down 5.76%, 4.07%, and 3.99%, respectively. The best performers of the day were National City, Bank of New York Mellon, and Huntington Bancshares Incorporated, which had gains of 2.48%, 1.16%, and 0.87%.

Leading the Regional Banking Index lower were SVB Financial Group, Associated Banc-corp, and Central Pacific Financial Corp., which were down 5.40%, 4.92%, and 4.71%, respectively. The best performers of the day were Frontier Financial Corporation, First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, and Cathay General Bancorp, which had gains of 11.18%, 2.83%, and 2.15%.