Jan. 18--A quarterly loss at Bank of America and a slide in its stock price helped push down the Asbury Park Press/Bloomberg 75 index by nearly 3 percent last week.

The index, made of 75 companies either based at the Shore or with a significant presence in New Jersey, closed at 92.03 on Friday, down 2.58, or 2.73 percent.

Fifty-four companies declined while 21 companies saw a gain in stock price.

The top decliner by percentage was Bank of America, $7.18, down $5.81, or 44.7 percent.

Bank of America, the largest U.S. bank, posted its first quarterly loss on Friday since 1991.

The government said it would invest $20 billion in the bank and guarantee $118 billion of assets to help the company absorb the acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co.

Other companies that saw their stock prices fall last week were: Wells Fargo & Co., $18.68, down $6.46, or 25.7 percent; Avis Budget Group, 75 cents, down 20 cents, or 21.1 percent; PNC Financial Services, $37.54, down $9.81, or 20.7 percent; Red Bank-based Hovnanian Enterprises, $1.90, down 44 cents, or 18.8 percent; and Prudential Financial Inc., $26.66, down $5.22, or 16.4 percent.

Companies that saw a gain in stock price last week were: Medco Health Solutions Inc., $43.37, up $2.02, or 4.89 percent; Oceanport-based CommVault Systems Inc., $12.51, up 55 cents, or 4.6 percent; Wall-based New Jersey Resources, $38.27, up $1.43, or 3.88 percent; C.R. Bard Inc., $86.01, up $2.69, or 3.23 percent; and Provident Financial Services Inc., $14.75, up 44 cents, or 3.07 percent.

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