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The pace of public companies raising money slowed slightly over the past five days, with fewer banks tapping the markets for capital.

A total of 25 deals raised $7.76 billion, down from the prior week, according to data from Dealogic. Bankers had expected the pace of follow-on stock sales to taper off after last week's blitz of 30 companies hit the market, raising $15.4 billion -- the highest number of deals since December 2005, by Dealogic's reckoning.

This week's crop ranged from State Street Corp.'s (STT) $2.3 billion offering on Monday to Evergreen Solar Inc.'s (ESLR) $67 million deal on Thursday. Besides State Street, two other banks, Regions Financial Corp. (RF) and Cardinal Financial Corp. (CFNL), raised $1.84 billion and $31 million, respectively. That's significantly lower than the prior week, when nearly a dozen banks hit the markets in the wake of federal stress test results requiring some to raise capital.

The wave of financial firms' follow-ons that dominated past weeks could "recede for some time, and the market will see a more normal level of broader-based recapitalizations take place," said Mark Hantho, global head of equity capital markets at Deutsche Bank AG, which was a book-runner on three of the week's offerings.

Investors and bankers said the performance of stocks after the deals were completed wasn't as strong as in past weeks. The broader market began trending down Wednesday, about halfway through the week's calendar of deals.

Hantho said that while fear appears to have receded as a market driver, the underlying economy is still challenging.

"Every day brings a new story. We don't take any week for granted or any day for granted. You still have to be very nimble about how you access the market," he said.

--By Lynn Cowan, Dow Jones Newswires; 301-270-0323; lynn.cowan@dowjones.com