January 15, 2009

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled by more than 250 points this morning as the market absorbed more news of financial distress among the banking and retail sectors.The largest decliner was Royal Bank of Scotland Group, which said today it sold its 4.26-percent equity stake in Bank of China for about $2.3 billion.

Beleaguered Citigroup Inc.'s stock fell amid reports the company will soon unload several businesses and reduce its size by one-third.Barclays PLC said it will cut about 2,100 jobs in its investment banking and investment management businesses to adjust to the market downturn.

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