LOS ANGELES AP – Countrywide Financial Corp., its stock pummeled this week by rumors of bankruptcy and lackluster housing market forecasts, said Wednesday the percentage of borrowers who missed payments on home loans last month rose, signaling worsening trouble for the nation’s largest mortgage lender and for the entire mortgage sector.

The company also reported that it had funded $23.5 billion in loans in December – a steep decline from $42.8 billion in the year-ago period.