Bank stocks underperformed the market today despite a report that the government is working on a plan to subsidize mortgage payments for some borrowers. The KBW Banking Index fell 2.75% and the KBW Regional Banking Index fell 1.31%. The broader S&P 500 Index was up 0.17%.

The Bank Index was led by Capital One, U.S. Bank, and SunTrust, which were down 9.10%, 8.87%, and 8.23%, respectively. The best performers of the day were KeyCorp, M&T Bank, and Synovus Financial, which had gains of 3.78%, 1.18%, and 1.12%.

Leading the Regional Banking Index lower were Colonial Bancgroup, First Midwest Bancorp, and Sterling Financial Corporation, which were down 8.82%, 8.44%, and 7.53%, respectively. The best performers of the day were Frontier Financial Corporation, Eggemeyer Advisory Corp., and Umpqua Holdings Corporation, which had gains of 23.60%, 2.49%, and 2.38%.