Business news with words dropped+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

ASIAN stocks rose, reversing earlier declines, on speculation minutes from a Federal Reserve meeting will show the United States economy, the region's biggest overseas market, can weather a slump in values of homes and subprime mortgages. Some shares also climbed on expectations declines this month didn't reflect regional companies' earnings prospects. Mitsui & Co, which lost a fifth of its value in November, advanced. CNOOC Ltd led gains among energy stocks as oil prices rose. "Is subprime going to drag the US economy into recession? I don't think so," said Mona Chung, who helps manage US$2.5 billion at Daiwa Asset Management Ltd in Hong Kong. "Some shares have already dropped to very attractive levels." The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia Pacific Index added 0.3 percent to 158.05 at 6:47pm in Tokyo, rallying from an earlier decline of as much as 2.6 percent. The index is still down 7.8 percent this month. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average

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

ASIAN markets fell sharply today as traders took their cues from Wall Street, where shares fell Friday amid renewed concerns about US mortgage problems. Hong Kong's benchmark index dropped as much as 4.6 percent, while Japan's main index lost as much as 3.8 percent and South Korea's Kospi fell as much as 4.5 percent. "Basically, the supbrime loan issue still drags on, and there is no prospect of what can end the problem," said Shinichi Ichikawa, chief strategist at Credit Suisse. "As for the US economy, the risk of recession is increasing toward the next year," which, combined with higher oil prices, prompts players to sell the dollar, he said. Japanese traders sold exporter issues on a strengthening yen, which is at its highest levels against the dollar since May 2006. Automaker Honda fell 3.58 percent and rival Toyota shed 2.76 percent. Sony dropped 2.61 percent. At the close, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index was at 15,197.09 points, down 2.48

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