Citigroup Inc (C): Here’s Why Shares Are Falling

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Inside Citi’s 2013 Agriculture OutlookAbout one hour into the trading day, Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) is already down 1.76%. The big-four banks have all been taking it on the chin to one degree or another for the past couple of weeks, and it looks like the beatings are set to continue today.

Down markets, down sector
Here’s where the rest of the big four and the markets are shaking out at the beginning of the trading day:

Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) is already down a big 1.26%.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is down an even bigger 1.78%.

And Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) is down a mush-less dramatic 0.55%. (Wells’ ups and downs are rarely as extreme as those of Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), or JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), to which I credit the generally non-speculative nature of its investors. Wells is a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B) holding, after all, and Warren Buffett is nothing if non-speculative. It must have rubbed off.)

The markets are all in the red today, too, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.31%, the S&P 500 down 0.30%, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.38%.

Foolish bottom line
After B of A missed analysts’ first-quarter earnings expectations two weeks ago, the big four banks have experienced some radical swings both up and down, and that seems to be continuing today.

There’s also some broad economic news that’s undoubtedly affecting not just bank stocks but the rest of the market, as well. Payroll processing giant ADP is reporting worse than expected private-sector jobs growth for April, with a net 119,000 hired for the month. According to Financial Times, “economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast … 155,000.” Bad jobs news never makes for a happy day in the markets.

Is there anything else going on for Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) that might be driving its share price down? Bloomberg is reporting that the merging US Airways Group and AMR Corp.‘s American Airlines are in talks with both Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) and Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) to determine which bank will issue the newly merged company’s loyalty credit cards. Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) has issued US Airways’ card since 2006, while Citi has traditionally issued American Airlines.’

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