US stocks fell on Friday as bank shares lost ground after a Massachusetts court ruling against Wells Fargo and US Bancorp in which two home foreclosures were voided. The Supreme Judicial Court, the state's highest court, said the banks that tried to take title to the homes failed to show they held the mortgages at the time of foreclosure, raising the possibility other foreclosure sales by banks could be invalidated.
Stocks had been struggling around break-even earlier after a mixed US employment report for December in which the economy created fewer jobs than expected but the unemployment rate fell. Wells Fargo & Co shares fell 2.8 percent to $31.25 and US Bancorp shed 0.6 percent to $26.14. The KBW Bank index lost 1.4 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 41.89 points, or 0.36 percent, to 11,655.42. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 5.53 points, or 0.43 percent, to 1,268.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 12.24 points, or 0.45 percent, to 2,697.65.
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