Business news with words dow+recession+shares. 7 news.

The Dow retreats for a second straight day, falling 65.84 points, as investors worry about the housing slump. Stock prices dropped Tuesday, led again by shares of financial companies, as concern persisted that fallout from the slumping housing market could generate more banking losses and pull the economy into recession.

EUROPEAN stocks had their biggest weekly gain last Friday since June on speculation the United States Federal Reserve will lower interest rates to prevent credit-market losses from dragging the world's biggest economy into a recession. "The situation is serious enough to expect further rate cuts," said Guenther Gerstenberger, a fund manager at Germany-based PEH Wertpapier AG, which oversees the equivalent of US$5.5 billion. "In the medium term we'll see strong equity markets." Commodity stocks rose the most in 10 weeks, led by BHP Billiton Ltd, Anglo American Plc and Rio Tinto Group. Barclays Plc and Commerzbank AG paced an advance of financial stocks after strategic buyers from emerging-market countries bought stakes in Citigroup Inc, the biggest US bank, and Fortis of Belgium, Bloomberg News reported. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 3.5 percent to 370.36 last week. Still, the gauge dropped 4.7 percent in November for the worst monthly performance since

EUROPEAN stocks capped the longest streak of weekly losses since August after the Federal Reserve cut its United States growth forecast, fueling concern the world's largest economy is sliding into recession. Porsche AG, which relies on the US for more than a third of its sales, paced declines by exporters as the American currency dropped to a record low against the euro. UBS AG led a retreat in bank shares on speculation the worst of the credit-market turmoil is not over. Mining stocks fell with metal prices. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index dropped 1.4 percent to 357.74, the fourth straight week of losses. The benchmark has lost 11 percent since reaching a 6 1/2-year high on June 1, on concern defaults among US mortgage borrowers with the poorest credit profiles will hurt economic growth and corporate earnings, Bloomberg News said. "The situation is getting worse with oil and credit problems weighing on equity markets," said Wolfram Mrowetz, who manages the equivalent of

EUROPEAN stocks slumped to their lowest in almost two months last week, paced by commodity producers as metal and oil prices fell. Boliden AB, Europe's third-biggest copper refiner, and Anglo American Plc, the world's second-largest miner, led commodity stocks lower. Porsche AG dropped as the weak US dollar hurt the value of US sales translated into euros. "The picture is dimming for commodity stocks," said Herbert Perus, who helps oversee the equivalent of US$57 billion as head of global equities at Raiffeisen Capital Management in Vienna. "The word recession is heard more and more often from the US. It's a very sentiment-driven market with a lot of scared investors." The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index declined 1.3 percent last week. The benchmark has fallen nine percent since reaching a 6 1/2-year high on June 1 because of concern defaults among US mortgage borrowers with the poorest credit profiles will hurt the rest of the economy. "It's reasonable to

EUROPEAN stocks declined last week after UBS AG, the region's biggest bank, posted its first quarterly loss in almost five years and Credit Suisse Group reported its first profit drop in a year. Fortis sank after UBS advised investors to sell the shares. "We're not very optimistic," said Roland Lescure, chief investment officer at Groupama Asset Management in Paris, which oversees US$130 billion. "Profits are clearly slowing and that's going to hurt stocks." Boliden AB and Antofagasta Plc led copper producers lower after saying output slid. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index fell one percent last week. The measure has dropped 5.1 percent since reaching a 6 1/2-year high on June 1 on concern defaults among US borrowers with the poorest credit profiles will hurt the rest of the economy, Blomberg News said. "Risks are many," said Groupama's Lescure. "There's the risk on banks' balance sheets due to the financial crisis. There's the recession risk

US energy and computer companies rallied, carrying the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to its third advance on Friday, after a better-than-expected jobs report outweighed concern banks face mounting credit losses. Schlumberger Ltd and Halliburton Co, the biggest oilfield services companies, gained as oil rose to a record US$95.93 a barrel. Apple Inc, Google Inc and Intel Corp climbed on prospects employment growth will increase consumer spending, helping the US economy avoid a recession. Merrill Lynch & Co led financial shares to their steepest two-day loss since 2002 as the market completed its second weekly decline in two months. The S&P 500 rose 1.21, or 0.1 percent, to 1,509.65 on Friday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 27.23, or 0.2 percent, to 13,595.1 and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 15.55, or 0.6 percent, to 2,810.38. About 18 stocks gained for every 17 that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. "Energy, technology - they have ties back to strong

US stocks have risen for a fourth straight week, sending the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to a record, after employment growth eased concern that mortgage losses will cause a recession. Fannie Mae and Morgan Stanley led banks, brokerages and other financial firms in the S&P 500 to their biggest rally since March 2003. Homebuilders surged the most since November 2000 after Citi Investment Research said their shares are cheap, Bloomberg News reported. The Labor Department said American payrolls increased by 110,000 jobs in September and the prior month's decrease of 4,000 was revised to a gain of 89,000. That quelled concern that home-loan losses are dragging down the economy. "Stocks look very good to me," said John Lynch, chief market analyst at Evergreen Investments LLC, which manages US$280 billion in Charlotte, North Carolina. "The jobs report suggests continued economic growth, which should translate to continued profit growth and good market performance." The S&P 500 rose two percent last week to 1,557.59. The index has rebounded 11 percent since August 15, erasing US$1 trillion of losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the five-day period up 1.2 percent at 14,066.01 after closing at a record on October 1. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 2.9 percent to 2,780.32, the highest since February 2001. The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes rose about 0.05 percentage point to 4.64 percent. Traders pared bets that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates this month because of less concern the housing slump will weigh on the broader economy. The central bank reduced its benchmark lending rate by half a percentage point to 4.75 percent on September 18. Financial shares in the S&P 500 rose 4.5 percent. "We expect to return to a normal earnings environment in the fourth quarter," Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Officer Charles Prince said. His company is the largest US bank. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan also said the credit slump may be ending. Fannie Mae, the largest provider of money for US home loans, rose 11 percent to US$67.30. Morgan Stanley, the second-largest US broker by market value, climbed 9.4 percent to US$68.90. Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley's bigger rival, added 5.4 percent to US$228.50. The S&P Supercomposite Homebuilding Index gained 12 percent, the most in almost seven years. Citi analyst Stephen Kim said at the start of last week that the shares of builders such