Stocks Tumble

U.S. and European stocks tumbled, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index down the most in two months, as the World Bank said the recession will be deeper than previously forecast. Treasuries rose, while oil fell below $67 a barrel and metals slumped.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Alcoa Inc. sank at least 8.9 percent, while BP Plc and Occidental Petroleum Corp. lost more than 3.8 percent amid the biggest retreat in the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials in almost three weeks. Bank of America Corp. dropped 9.7 percent as two board members resigned. Both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average erased their gains for the year.

“The worries are still out there,” said John Wilson, who helps oversee $120 billion as chief market technician at Morgan Keegan & Co. in Memphis, Tennessee. “Nobody is ready to get the trumpets out and herald the end of the recession.”

The S&P 500 slid 3.1 percent to 893.04 at 4:05 p.m. in New York following last week’s 2.6 percent slump. The Dow average sank 200.72 points, or 2.4 percent, to 8,339.01. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 fell 2.8 percent and the MSCI World Index decreased 2.7 percent. Almost 14 stocks fell for each rising on the New York Stock Exchange, the broadest sell-off since May 13.

Stocks and commodities slid as the World Bank said unemployment and poverty will rise in developing nations and predicted a 2.9 percent contraction in the global economy this year. That compares with a prior estimate of a 1.7 percent decline. Growth is expected to return in 2010 at 2 percent, less than the 2.3 percent forecast about three months ago.

Rebound Pared

While the S&P 500 is still up 32 percent from a 12-year low on March 9, the index has fallen 5.6 percent since June 12. Executives at U.S. companies are taking advantage of the biggest stock-market rally in 71 years to sell their shares at the fastest pace since credit markets started to seize up two years ago. Insiders of S&P 500 companies were net sellers for 14 straight weeks as the market rallied, according to data compiled by InsiderScmaore.com.

The S&P 500 today slid below 900.77, its average level over the past 200 days, in a bearish signal to analysts who study charts to predict market movements.

Nouriel Roubini, the New York University economics professor who predicted the financial crisis, said the global economy may suffer another slump due to higher oil prices and widening budget deficits.