Takeover speculation in the mining and financial-services industries limited the losses. Rio Tinto surged on speculation BHP Billiton may bid for the company.

Friends Provident and Standard Chartered climbed on bid talk.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index dropped 0.8% to 389.76. The Stoxx 50 retreated 0.7% and the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the 13 nations sharing the euro, slipped 0.5%.

National benchmarks fell in 14 out of 18 western European markets. The UK's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.6 %. The market was closed on 7 May for a public holiday. France's CAC 40 lost 0.3 % and Germany's DAX Index fell 0.5%. Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said he still sees a one-third chance of a recession in the US this year.

Porsche paced declines by auto stocks, falling 5.5% to 1220.92.

The maker of the 911 and Cayenne sports cars generates about one third of its sales from the US.

Michelin, the world's secondbiggest tyremaker, dropped 3.6% to 92.45. The company makes more than a third of its sales in North America.

Hochtief, Germany's largest builder, slipped 4.8% to 76.86 euros. The company makes about 40% of its sales in the US. CRH, the world's second-biggest maker and distributor of building materials, dropped 6.5% to 33.96. The company makes more than half of its sales in North America.

Shares of Societe Generale lost 1.7% to 155.7 this week. France's second-largest bank posted a 1.9% decline in first-quarter earnings to 1.4bn on higher costs. Declines were limited after a Radiocor report said Chairman Daniel Bouton told labor unions UniCredit is among eight companies interested in Societe Generale.

Rio Tinto, the world's thirdlargest mining company, climbed 10% to �36.52 on speculation BHP Billitonmay make a takeover offer.

So far in 2007, mergers in Europe have totaled $1.09 trillion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They reached a record $1.6 trillion in 2006.

Friends Provident, a 175-yearold British insurer, gained 4.4% to 207.25 pence on speculation it maybe a takeover target. 'The Financial Times' reported Axa and JC Flowers, a New York City-based private-equity firm, may be considering buying the company, without citing anyone.

Standard Chartered, the UK's best-performing banking stock, climbed 3.2% to �160.5, also on takeover speculation.

Clariant, the world's secondlargest maker of specialty chemicals, rose 8.1 % to 21.4 Swiss francs on speculation the company may be a takeover target for German rival Lanxess . Clariant spokesman Walter Vaterlaus said the company had received no offer.

Lanxess spokesman Christoph Sieder declined to comment.

Sage , Britain's biggest maker of accounting software, lost 3.1% to �257.75. The company said firsthalf pro"t fell 4.6% as the weakness of the dollar hurt earnings and the company integrated recent acquisitions.

InBev, the world's largest brewer, lost 4.2% to 57.09 after the company said western European revenue fell 2% in the first quarter, more than some analysts had estimated. Profit jumped 69% in the quarter after the company opened plants in Russia and Latin America.

Milestones Numbers Berkshire Hathaway overwhelmingly rejected a motion to disinvest its 1.3% stake in Chinese oil giant PetroChina over its alleged indirect support of genocide in Darfur. Warren Buffet said he didn't think such an action would have any effect . . . and 98% of shareholders agreed.

Residents of Darfur could not be reached for comment.

Equity movers

IRISH SHARES

GAINERS
Company closing % Petroneft 0.935 +16.87 Kenmare 0.75 + Blackrock 0.50 +6.38 Aminex 0.34 + Independent News 3.81 + 5.26 Petroceltic 0.23 + Glanbia 3.74 + LOSERS Company closing % Thirdforce 0.22 - Glencar Mining 0.18 . . . 7.49 Anglo Irish Bank 16.39 . . . 5.75 C&C Group 11.95 . . . 5.66 Trinity Biotech 1.90 . . . 5.00 Kingspan Group 20.05 . . . 4.57 Aer Lingus 3.00 . . . 4.13 Irish L& P 19.90 . . . 3.83 CRH 34.02 . . . 3.62 Ryanair 5.59 . . . 3.62 Allied Irish Bank 22.20 . . . 3.61
INTERNATIONAL GAINERS
Company closing % BNP Paribas 93.75p +7.09 Apple $108.38 Reed Elsevier 663.78p + 4.91 Hewlett Packard $45.05 + 2.81 Debenhams 146.75p + Amer Intnl Group $72.85 + 2.75 IBM $105.41 +

LOSERS
Company closing % Amgen $55.70 . . .Cisco Systems $26.79 . . . 5.23 Statoil Asa NK 167.00 . . . 4.57 Gazprom RUB243:00 . . . 4.24 ABN Amro E35.22 . . . 4.03 Barclays �717.00 Siemens E87.13

DUBLIN ISEQ 9,584.775 Down 2.41% on week .
EUROPE DJ Stoxx 50 3,885.74 Down 0.66% on week .
LONDON FTSE 100 6,565.70 Up 0.43% on week .
NEW YORK DOW 13,326.22 Up 0.46% Nasdaq 2,562.22 Down 0.39% The week ahead

MONDAY UK Producer Prices and House Prices Eurozone Industrial Output Japanese Current Account US Fed's Fisher speaks in Washington on services sector Results: DCC, Cherokee International TUESDAY Irish quarterly National Household survey Boundary Captial to list on IEX Construction Employment figures for March Group 4 Securicor PLC to publish trading statement US inflation, ABC Consumer Con"dence Figures, Weekly Retail Sales and NAHB Housing Survey German Gross Domestic Product Results: Smurfit Kappa, Wal-Mart, Alpine Group, Ehomes
WEDNESDAY Glanbia PLC holds annual shareholders meeting Gavin O'Reilly speaks at Leinster Society of Chartered Accountants, Four Seasons Hotel UK Average earnings and Unemployment stats BOE issue quarterly inflation report US Housing Starts and Industrial Production stats Results: Sainsbury, Hewlitt-Packard
THURSDAY Irish Retail Sales (March) US Jobless Claims and Money Supply European Central Bank's Monthly Bulletin Japanese GDP and Monetary Policy Report Results: China World Trade Corp
FRIDAY Irish Life & Permanent hold annual shareholder meeting in Dublin Kerry Group PLC has annual shareholder meeting in Tralee UK Retail Sales University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index for the US Results: Eurogas Inc The week that was.

EVERY LITTLE HELPS
Supermarket giant Tesco unveiled its plan to reduce energy consumption at its Irish stores by 50% within the next five years. To demonstrate its commitment to green issues, the firm is planning to build a supermarket from wood, recycled plastics and other green materials. It also plans to cut the amount of packaging it uses. Curiously, though, it made no reference to its practice of flying food large distances.

MAINTAINING VIGILANCE
The European Central Bank (ECB) surprised no one last week by indicating that it would increase eurozone interest rates by another quarter of a percentage point in June.

The bank's president Jean Claude Trichet (above) once again used his catchphrase "strong vigilance" to signal the move. Despite meeting in Dublin, ECB officials declined to give any opinion, coded or not, on the government's economic management.

ROCKING THE BOAT
Irish-American inventor Herbert Williams resigned from Irish tidal energy group OpenHydro after it emerged that he had been convicted over the design and construction of a catamaran for Colombian cocaine dealers in 1987. The company said that Williams had been unaware of the purpose of the vessel and that it was impounded by the US authorities before it was used.

OpenHydro has raised about 12.5m from investors over the past two years.

BEER HALL PUTSCH?
Drinks group C&C unveiled an audacious plan to test Magners cider in the home of the Bavarian beer hall, Munich, as part of its plans to expand the brand into Europe. It intends to spend 12m testing the cider in Munich and Barcelona this year. It has already unveiled plans to build a 70m warehouse in Clonmel in a bid to cope with its forecasted demand for the drink.

LATE DELIVERY
An Post's performance has declined last year, according to figures revealed by ComReg. Just 72% of mail reached its destination by the following day, compared with the company's target of 94%. An Post reacted to figures by stating that it hoped to achieve 80% next-day delivery by the end of this year. ComReg, however, stated that the state postal agency's performance was "unsatisfactory".

DEBT OF HONOUR
AIB's board admitted that it did not know whether the bank had ever made an attempt to recover an IR�111,000 ( 140,970) debt owed by late taoiseach Charlie Haughey (below) . The debt dates back to 1980 when Haughey reached an agreement to settle the remainder of his debts, IR�1.14 million ( 1.45 million), for IR�750,000 ( 952,500). The final portion of the debt, however, was never paid. The bank's chairman Dermot Gleeson told shareholders that he would probe the matter.