Shares drop on financial sector woes

JPMorgan''s announcement that it has lost $1.5 billion after hedges in the current quarter due to continuing turbulence in the mortgage-backed securities and loans market hit the company''s shares Tuesday.

In recent trading, its stock had declined 6.68 percent to $39.09 on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and it remains among the most active listings on the bourse.

Other financial services companies have also had a rocky ride in the day''s trading, the Associated Press reports.

Shares in Wachovia Corporation dropped 8.24 percent to $16.71 after it the lender confirmed it would have to cut an additional 600 jobs on top of previously announced redundancies due to mortgage-related losses.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs fell four percent to $170.82 after some of its analysts'' ratings were reduced and the nation''s largest savings and loan Washington Mutual – which posted losses of $3.3 billion in the second quarter of the year – fell 5.27 percent to $4.49.

Overall, in recent trading the NYSE composite was down 50.39 points to 8,442.55.