Dow Up 12 After Dip Below 8K

Stocks finished just barely in positive territory today, MarketWatch reports. Nervousness about US banks’ continued need for government funds dropped the Dow below 8,000, but bargain-hunters pushed the index higher, and it closed at 8,212.49, up 12.35 points on the day. The Nasdaq rose 22.20, settling at 1,511.84, and the S&P 500 added 1.12, closing at 843.74.

Bank of America lost 18.4% after asking the government for more money in order to absorb Merrill Lynch. Along with BoA, Citigroup paced declines, losing 15.45% in the wake of a rushed deal to sell its Smith Barney brokerage to raise capital. JP Morgan Chase posted a quarterly profit, but it was down 76% from a year ago, and the firm’s stock fell 6.06%. (More Dow Jones stories.)