Banks lead US stocks lower after Fed caps dividends; Dow, S&P fall over 2%

While the S&P 500 fell 2.15% in early trading on Friday, Dow Jones declined 2.7% and Nasdaq slipped 2.3%

Stocks opened lower on Wall Street, led by declines in banks after the Federal Reserve told them they had to cap their dividends and halt stock buybacks in order to shore up their defenses in case the recession gets worse.

While the S&P 500 fell 2.15 per cent in early trading on Friday, Dow Jones declined 2.7 per cent and Nasdaq slipped 2.3 per cent (until 12 am IST). The Nike stock fell over 6 per cent after reporting a big loss as most of its stores were forced to close.

Investors were disappointed to see that the number of