March 20 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks fell, sending the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index to its fourth weekly decline, after Credit Suisse Group said the freeze in credit markets may force it to post the first loss in five years and declines in gold, copper and oil prices pushed commodity producers lower.

Credit Suisse, the second-biggest Swiss bank by assets, sank more than 6 percent. BHP Billiton Ltd. and Total SA led a retreat by mining and energy companies. Nokia Oyj slipped to a 10-month low after Societe Generale SA advised selling the stock on the outlook for handset sales. Oil's drop below $100 a barrel buoyed shares of airlines and carmakers.

The Stoxx 600 lost 0.2 percent to 296.79 in London, extending this week's decline to 2.4 percent as the collapse of Bear Stearns Cos. weighed on financial shares.

``Bear Stearns and all the negative news flow and speculation surrounding other banks has convinced investors that economic growth will be relatively weak,'' said Tony Dolphin, director of strategy and economics at Henderson Global Investors in London, which oversees about $125 billion. ``That being the case, there is no justification for commodities to remain at recent highs.''

Stocks pared declines after manufacturing in the Philadelphia region contracted in March less than forecast. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's general economic index rose to minus 17.4, less than the minus 19.0 in a Bloomberg survey.

National stock indexes fell in all 15 markets in western Europe that were open except Ireland. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 slid 0.9 percent, while Germany's DAX slipped 0.7 percent. France's CAC slid 0.5 percent. The Stoxx 50 retreated 0.3 percent, and the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the euro zone, lost 0.7 percent.

Most European markets will be closed tomorrow and March 24 for public holidays.

Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse tumbled 6.4 percent to 48.5 Swiss francs. The Zurich-based bank said it will probably have a loss this quarter for the first time in almost five years as a result of ``difficult'' markets and writedowns on debt securities that were intentionally mispriced by traders.

Writedowns worth $2.65 billion will be spread over the fourth quarter and first three months of 2008, the bank said today. That cut fourth-quarter net income by 789 million francs ($788 million) to 540 million francs, and to 7.76 billion francs for the full year, the statement said.

UBS AG, Europe's biggest bank by assets, slid 1.1 percent to 27.92 francs.

BHP lost 5.6 percent to 1,361 pence. Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-biggest mining company, dropped 5.3 percent to 4,800 pence. Vedanta Resources Plc, India's largest copper producer, decreased 5.4 percent to 1,902 pence.

Gold headed for its biggest weekly drop in 25 years, leading a retreat in commodity prices, as the dollar rallied and concern mounted a U.S.-led slowdown in the global economy will cut consumption of raw materials.

Falling Off Cliff

Gold futures plunged 2.5 percent today as of 11:52 a.m. in New York, sending the price down 8.3 percent for the week. Copper futures declined 4.6 percent in London.

``Commodity prices have fallen off the cliff on concerns that the economic slowdown will reduce demand,'' said Claire Collingwood, a trader at CMC Markets in London. ``There's still a lot of uncertainty as to where fair value now lies for equities and this will result in volatility ahead of the long weekend break.''

Total fell 2.2 percent to 45.83 euros. BP Plc, Europe's second-biggest oil company, slipped 3 percent to 496 pence.

Crude oil for May delivery fell 3.7 percent to $100.61 a barrel in New York.

Ryanair Holdings Plc, Europe's largest discount air carrier, climbed 7.8 percent to 2.75 euros. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world's biggest maker of luxury cars, rose 1.4 percent to 34.23 euros.

Nokia, Stora Enso

Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, fell 4 percent to 18.49 euros. Societe Generale downgraded the stock to ``sell'' from ``buy'' after Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd., the smallest of the world's four main mobile-phone makers, said yesterday first-quarter earnings will fall on slower handset sales, higher research costs and a component shortage.

``Sony Ericsson's profit warning highlights global handset recession risk in 2008,'' the brokerage wrote in a report today.

Stora Enso Oyj sank 2.3 percent to 7.61 euros. Europe's largest papermaker said first-quarter earnings will fall from a year earlier as rising costs hurt its wood products division.

UCB SA dropped 12 percent to 23.17 euros. The drugmaker forced by regulators last week to strengthen warnings on a children's cough medicine recalled batches of the Neupro Parkinson's therapy, a move that may lead the Belgian company to cut its forecast for 2008.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Thompson in London at sthompson17@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 20, 2008 13:11 EDT