Citigroup: Financial Winners and Losers

(Updated with CIT Group news, new stock prices.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Citigroup (C Quote) was among the losers of the financial sector Wednesday as bank stocks tumbled after a disappointing read on new-home sales.

Citigroup was down 17 cents, or 4%, to $4.10, making it one of the worst performing bank stocks, after the Commerce Department said new-home sales unexpectedly fell 3.6% in September to 402,000, likely reflecting the looming deadline of the first-time buyer tax credit on Nov. 30.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist with High Frequency Economics, notes that new-home sales are captured at the point of contract signing, not closing, "so sales are trailing off now as people start to run out of time to close sales before the deadline."

In related news, the Mortgage Bankers Association said mortgage loan application volume fell by 12.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis last week from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 2.8% compared with the previous week, which included the Columbus Day holiday.

Among other bank stocks trading lower Wednesday, Wells Fargo (WFC Quote) fell by 2.5% to $27.69, Bank of America (BAC Quote) lost 2.2% to $15.11 and JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote) slipped 2% to $43.01.

BofA was also trading lower on reports that the search for a candidate to replace outgoing CEO Ken Lewis has turned up few outsiders. The Wall Street Journal reported that a board committee had hoped to pick a successor to outgoing CEO Ken Lewis in time for the bank's board to vote on the choice Wednesday but indicated it needs more time.