Financials, tech shares weigh on Wall Street

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks tumbled on Monday, roiled by worries about how big a bite the global financial crisis has taken from banks' profits and fallout from a massive hedge fund fraud scheme.

Highlights:

* The financial sector fell on concern over exposure to funds managed by Bernard Madoff, an investment manager accused by U.S. authorities of masterminding a $50 billion fraud.

* JPMorgan Chase & Co was the biggest drag on the Dow after Merrill Lynch cut the stock to an "underperform" rating and forecast a loss for the bank's fourth quarter.

* The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 65.15 points, or 0.75 percent, to end unofficially at 8,564.53. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> slipped 11.14 points, or 1.27 percent, to close unofficially at 868.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dropped 32.38 points, or 2.10 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,508.34.

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Jan Paschal)