Stocks decline in Europe, Asia

Stocks in Europe and Asia fell for the first time in three days and US futures slid as companies from Bayerische Motoren Werke AG to K+S AG posted disappointing results and Japan's economy shrank the most since 1974.

BMW, the world's largest maker of luxury cars, lost 3.8 percent after posting full-year net income that trailed analysts' estimates. K+S, Europe's biggest producer of potash used in fertilizers, tumbled 8.6 percent on a forecast for "significantly" lower earnings this year. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc slumped 3.7 percent after Japan's economy contracted 12.1 percent in the fourth quarter.

The MSCI World Index dropped 0.8 percent to 725.09 at 11:15 am in London, extended its 2009 retreat to 21 percent. The gauge of 23 developed nations had rallied 6.1 percent in the past two days as JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc said they were profitable in January and February, bolstering speculation that the worst of the banking crisis may be over.