U.S. stocks fell for the first time in five days as Mike Mayo, analyst at Calyon Securities, advised selling bank shares and International Business Machines Corp.’s purchase of Sun Microsystems Inc. collapsed.

U.S. Bancorp and SunTrust Banks Inc. slid more than 4.5 percent as Mayo said government measures to shore up banks may not help as much as expected and loan losses will exceed levels from the Great Depression. Sun Microsystems sank 23 percent as people familiar with the matter said talks with IBM fell apart. U.S. Steel Corp. and AK Steel Holding Corp. lost at least 2.7 percent as metals fell on concern over the slumping economy.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index retreated 0.8 percent to 835.48. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 41.74, or 0.5 percent, to 7,975.85. About three stocks fell for each that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. The MSCI World Index of 23 developed nations lost 0.8 percent.

U.S. stocks capped a fourth straight week of gains on April 3, the longest stretch since the bear market began in 2007, as the economy showed signs of improvement, Group of 20 leaders agreed on measures to halt the recession and accounting regulators relaxed rules on so-called fair-value accounting. The S&P 500 has rebounded 23 percent from a 12-year low on March 9.

Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index declined 0.6 percent, erasing a 1.9 percent advance, after Morgan Stanley cut the region’s stocks to “underweight” from “neutral.” The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.4 percent.

(Bloomberg.com)