European stocks declined for a sixth week after economic reports and earnings from the US deepened concern the world's largest economy is sliding into a recession.
Dexia SA, the biggest lender to local governments, and Commerzbank AG led financial shares lower. Hypo Real Estate Holding AG had its biggest slump ever after the German commercial property lender said pretax profit fell last year. Burberry Group PLC, the maker of US$3,100 metal-studded Knight handbags, dropped after saying it may miss profit estimates.
The Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index sank 4.7 percent to 327.53, the biggest decline since the week ended July 27. The last time the measure fell for six or more consecutive weeks was the period ended Oct. 9, 1998.
"We see the specter of the slowdown, with data from the US confirming that it's a strong one," said Alexandre Iatrides, who helps oversee about US$7.3 billion at Richelieu Finance in Paris. "Now companies are lowering guidance. We're worried about earnings. That's weighing on stocks."
The STOXX 600 is down 18 percent from a six-and-a-half-year high reached on June 1 on concern a US housing slump and credit market losses will curb economic expansion and slow profit growth. Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland and Sweden have extended their losses from highs reached last year to more than 20 percent, the common definition of a bear market.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's manufacturing index slumped to a six-year low, data released on Thursday showed. Citigroup Inc, the largest US bank, this week reported its biggest loss ever and Intel Corp, the world's biggest chipmaker, forecast sales that fell short of analysts' estimates.
National benchmarks dropped in all of the 18 western European markets. Germany's DAX Index lost 5.2 percent, as did France's CAC 40. The UK's FTSE 100 sank 4.8 percent. The STOXX 50 decreased 5.3 percent, and the Euro STOXX 50, a measure for the euro region, tumbled 5.5 percent.
"We are still avoiding the banks," said Stuart Fraser, who helps manage about US$42 billion at Brewin Dolphin Securities Ltd in London. "You generally want to avoid the very cyclical names, those exposed to the economy."
Hypo Real Estate plunged 34 percent, the worst performance in the STOXX 600. The company said on Tuesday that full-year pretax profit fell 27 percent to 890 million euros (US$1.32 billion) and plans to slash its dividend for last year to 0.50 euros a share from 1.50 euros for 2006.
Commerzbank retreated 16 percent on speculation it may report further writedowns. Germany's second-biggest bank has asset-backed securities totaling 19.9 billion euros, including US subprime investments and collateralized debt obligations, a presentation in September showed.
A sub-index for banks in the STOXX 600 fell 7.4 percent this week, the biggest drop among the 18 industry groups. That was the steepest decline since the week ending July 12, 2002.
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