Stocks fell Wednesday, as weak results from investment bank Goldman Sachs pressured financial shares and affected the broader market. Goldman shares fell nearly 5 percent after the bank posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter profits but missed revenue estimates, while shares of Morgan Stanley and Barclays fell more than 3 percent, and shares of Wells Fargo fell more than 2 percent. In U.S. economic news, housing starts declined steeply in December, but building permits-a gauge of future activity-increased dramatically, the government said. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude for March delivery fell 50 cents to $91.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $2 to $1,370.20 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 12.64, or 0.1 percent, to 11,825.29. Financial companies led decliners, with Bank of America losing more than 4 percent, and American Express sliding 2.4 percent. But the index's losses were limited by a 3 percent jump in IBM, after the technology giant reported fourth-quarter profits that surpassed forecasts. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 13.10, or 1 percent, to 1,281.92. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 40.49, or 1.5 percent, to 2,725.36. Apple reported its best quarter late Tuesday, driven by holiday iPad and iPhone sales that were much better than forecast. But shares of the technology leader fell 0.5 percent Wednesday amid concerns about its chief executive's medical leave of absence.
