Wall Street extends loss on record oil, bank concern

NEW YORK, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street suffered another big loss on Friday with Dow Jones down in bear market territory, amid concerns about record refreshing oil prices and poor performance in bank sector.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery touched 142.99 U.S. dollars a barrel before retreating and settling up 57 cents at 140.21 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Moody's Investors Service on Friday said it is reviewing Morgan Stanley for a possible downgrade, while Lehman Brothers lifted his prediction of Merrill Lynch's write-down for the second quarter, saying Merrill is expected to suffer a write-down of 5.4 billion dollars from previously estimated 3 billion.

The U.S. Commerce Department said spending rose 0.8 percent in May, as taxpayers started receiving their stimulus checks. The reading was higher than an increase of 0.7 percent economists had predicted. The report also said personal incomes surged 1.9 percent, significantly more than anticipated.

The University of Michigan's June index of consumer sentiment came in at 56.4, a bit lower than its reading in May and slightly below the average analyst estimate.

AT&T and Verizon declined after Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications said weak demand for more expensive phones is hurting profitability.

The Dow Jones fell 106.91 to 11,346.51. Broader indexes also moved lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dipped 4.77 to 1,278.38 and the Nasdaq slipped 5.74 to 2,315.63.