NEW YORK, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street opened sharply lower Monday, as investors were concerned about the health of the financial sector.
Lehman Brothers retreated in early trading, as a Korean bank will reconsider a potential investment in the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm. Moreover, Columbian Bank and Trust Co., the U.S. ninth bank, collapsed amid bad real-estate loans, which dragged banks down.
Light, sweet crude rose 45 cents to 115.04 U.S. dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and weighed on airlines.
Investors also awaited a report from the U.S. National Association of Realtors on existing home sales for July, due at 10a.m. EDT.
The Dow Jones fell 103.24 to 11,524.82. Broader indexes also traded lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dipped 9.47 to 1,282.73; and the Nasdaq fell 23.03 to 2,391.68.
