JPMorgan Chase's takeover of most of Washington Mutual, the collapsed lender that became the US's biggest bank failure on Thursday, failed to soothe the market's nerves yesterday as investors worried about future casualties of the financial crisis.
As JPMorgan celebrated becoming the largest US bank after buying WaMu's assets and branches for just $1.9bn, financial stocks were hit by widespread selling amid concerns that others could soon join the 13 US lenders that have failed this year.
Wachovia, the fourth largest bank in the US, was under pressure from equity investors and bondholders on growing fears over its $120bn portfolio of mortgage securities.