World stock index declines for sixth day

The MSCI Index retreated 0.2 percent at noon in London, bringing its six-day slide to 5.2 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.2 percent. The yen strengthened against 11 of its 16 biggest counterparts and copper declined for a second day. Greek bonds tumbled, driving the 10-year note yield up 18 basis points to 6.42 percent.

Investors are concerned that economic growth will falter as the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank curb stimulus measures and economists predict central banks in China, India, Brazil and Australia will push up borrowing costs. Earnings setbacks also hurt stocks. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, Spain's second-biggest lender, and SAP AG, the biggest maker of business-management software, missed analysts' estimates.

“People came into this year with too optimistic a view and now they are being punished for that,” said Charles Morris, who runs HSBC Investment Management's Absolute Return Fund in London with about US$2.5 billion in assets.

Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index fell 0.3 percent as financial shares retreated. Banco Bilbao sank 5.3 percent in Madrid. Man Group Plc, the largest publicly traded hedge fund company, plunged 3.2 percent in London after the value of its biggest program-driven fund dropped the most in seven weeks.

Asian stocks declined for an eighth day, the longest losing streak since May 2005 as the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 1.1 percent. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 0.5 percent, taking its six-day retreat to 7.8 percent in the longest slump in a year. The Shanghai Composite Index sank 1.1 percent as banks dropped on lending curbs and investors speculated policy makers may soon raise rates.

United States (U.S.) futures advanced after the S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent Tuesday. A record nine-quarter earnings slump for S&P 500 companies is projected to have ended in the fourth quarter with a 73 percent increase in profits. More than 130 companies are scheduled to release results this week, including Abbott Laboratories, Boeing Co. and Caterpillar Inc. yesterday.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index lost 2.9 percent before a central bank meeting this week that economists predict will result in higher reserve requirements for banks.

Brazil's central bank will probably signal its readiness to raise borrowing costs after leaving its benchmark interest rate at a record low, economists said before yesterday's policy meeting.

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