Stocks in Europe, Asia retreat; MSCI index also drops

Stocks in Europe and Asia slipped and US index futures fell as companies from Electricite de France SA to Diageo Plc posted disappointing results and investors speculated US measures won't revive the global economy.

EDF, the biggest operator of nuclear reactors, and Diageo, the largest liquor maker, fell more than 5 percent. Wal-Mart Stores Inc retreated 2.1 percent before a report that may show US retail sales declined amid rising unemployment. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Ltd, Japan's biggest lender, lost 3.5 percent as US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he needs time to work out details of a bank-rescue plan unveiled Feb 10. The MSCI World Index dropped for a third day, losing 0.9 percent at 12:09 pm in London. The gauge of 23 developed countries had rallied 5.8 percent in the previous five days on optimism that global stimulus packages, a financial-rescue plan from Barack Obama's administration and interest-rate cuts would help lift the US, Europe and Japan out of recessions.

"There isn't a miracle solution," Sebastien Korchia, a fund manager at Meeschaert Asset Management in Paris, which oversees about $2.6 billion, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. "It will take time. The market is worried."