Apr. 19--Bank stocks suffered and retailers' shares recovered in the first quarter of this year.

As the recession that found its origins in the financial sector took grip on the nation, the market declined.

Not surprising, stocks most beaten down in the first quarter were financial and shopping center owners.

Banks led the way south. Bank of America Corp. shares lost more than half their value, falling 51 percent in the first three months of the year, laboring under shaky mortgages and the acquisition of Countrywide Home Loans.

Among the top gainers were retailers, many of whom watched their stock so badly beaten last year. The top gainer was beleaguered Bon Ton Stores Inc., whose 75 cent gain was also a 75-percent gain.

Of the 67 publicly-traded companies with a presence in Northeast Pennsylvania only 17 showed a gain. Among the remainder that lost value, 35 fell by double digits.

Indices showed a broad spread in performance. The tech-heavy NASDAQ index was nearly unchanged for the quarter. The S&P 500 was down by about 9 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 13 percent.

Closely tracking Bank of America was another big bank, Wells Fargo & Co., which purchased the troubled Wachovia Bank and ended March down 51 percent for the quarter.

The financial crisis hurt more than banks. Mall owner Pennsylvania Real Estates Investment Trust was down 49 percent and student lender SLM Corp., known as Sallie Mae, watched its shares plunge 44 percent.

Ailing banks rounded out the rest of the bottom 10. National Penn Bancshares Inc., F.N.B. Corp., and PNC Financial Services Group, all lost more than a third of their value.

Insurance and investment companies MetLife Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc. were also down more than a third.

"These declines say nothing about the individual banks involved," said Wilson Smith of Patriot Capital Partners in Philadelphia. "Bank stocks in general saw similar declines."

Banks are wisely putting more money into loan loss reserves, Mr. Smith said, bracing for the chance that the poor economy could hurt their loan portfolios.

Not all financials fell. Comm Bancorp Inc. was up 6 percent.

Four of the top five performing stocks were retailers, who were badly battered when the economy first started to slide last year.

Many retail stocks took a premature beating in the fourth quarter with widespread financial concerns and a deep decline in holiday spending.

Such upward swings, such as Bon-Ton's 75-percent gain, are not usual for stocks trading at such a low value and don't necessarily reflect investor faith in a company. Bon-Ton recently reported same-store sales were down 10 percent in March and that it lost $87.7 million in the fourth quarter. Moody's recently slashed the company's rating. And in January, Bon-Ton announced it would cut 1,150 jobs, eliminate 2008 executive bonuses and freeze wages in 2009 in an effort to save $70 million in a troubling retail climate.

Auto Zone Inc. and Rite Aid Corp. also enjoyed double digit gains.

Even tried-and-true segments such as utilities saw share value drop in the first quarter. PPL Corp. and UGI Corp. fell 5 and 2 percent, respectively.

Contact the writer: dfalchek@timesshamrock.com

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