The largest exchange-traded fund to track the financial sector fell sharply on Monday, dropping for a second straight session and hitting an one-month low. The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF fell 1.8%, extending a 2.2% decline on Friday, which represented the biggest one-day drop for the fund since May. The ETF is trading at its lowest level since Jan. 11, and it has lost nearly 5% since an intraday peak hit on Jan. 29. The sector’s weakness was driven by Wells Fargo & Co. , which tumbled 7.7% after the bank said Federal Reserve sanctions over customer-accounts scandals could cut into profit by as much as $400 million this year. The decline in banks shares also comes as the yield for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note climbs to 2.85%, extending its highest level in about four years. Rising yields, in theory, should be beneficial to a bank’s lending business. Among other banks, JPMorgan Chase & Co. was down 0.6% while Citigroup Inc. lost 1.3% and Bank of America Corp. was off 1.2%. The sector was the biggest decliner of the day by far, in terms of the 11 primary S&P 500 industry groups. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% while the S&P 500 was down 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3%.
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