Global Stocks, U.S. Index Futures Fall; Daimler, Amazon Decline (Sarah Jones)

Created by : Francis Goodwin View profile

Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks fell in Europe and Asia and U.S. index futures declined after Daimler AG and Amazon.com Inc. forecast slumping sales and Dow Chemical Co. predicted a global recession through most of 2009.

Daimler dropped 7.3 percent as the world's second-biggest maker of luxury cars suspended its share buyback program. Amazon, the world's largest Internet retailer, slid 15 percent after saying revenue slowed as financial markets tumbled at the end of last quarter. BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group sank more than 10 percent as copper slipped below $4,000 a ton.

The MSCI World Index lost 1.7 percent to 894.85 at 1:35 p.m. in London, while futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index sank 1.8 percent. The MSCI World has plunged 44 percent in 2008 as credit-related losses and writedowns topped $650 billion in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

``There aren't any industries that are safe havens,'' said Dominique Sabassier, head of equities at Natixis Asset Management in Paris, which oversees $461 billion in assets. ``We're in a recession. The question is what is the amplitude and the length.''