As bad news from Wachovia Corp., Fannie Mae and Barclays PLC sparked additional concern about the plummeting value of mortgage bonds, U.S. stocks dropped to their lowest level in two months, Bloomberg reported this morning.

Wachovia’s stock fell to its lowest price since 2003 after the fourth-largest U.S. bank announced that some of its debt securities lost $1.1 billion in October. Fannie Mae, the top source of money for U.S. home loans, saw its stock hit a two-year low after defaults spurred a third-quarter loss. Speculation that Barclays may post a $21 billion writedown helped pull down shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. Barclays denied the speculation.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 21.34 points, or 1.5 percent, to 1,453.43 in early trading. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 157.79 points, or 1.2 percent, to 13,108.5. The Nasdaq composite index decreased 59.57 points, or 2.2 percent, to 2,636.43. About 12 stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. European and Asian benchmark indexes also drew back.

After banks and brokerages wrote down their holdings of debt securities and set aside more money for bad loans, the S&P 500 is poised to post a decline for a second straight week. Cisco Systems Inc. yesterday said a decrease in sales to financial and automobile companies is limiting growth, prompting concern that earnings at technology companies may be vulnerable to the housing slowdown and credit market slump.