By Kelly Bit and Stephen Kirkland Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell and European equities erased gains as American personal incomes trailed estimates, while the yen strengthened against all 16 major peers after policy makers stopped short of direct steps to weaken the currency. Treasuries rose. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 0.2 percent to 1,062.66 at 9:39 a.m. in New York. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped less than 0.1 percent, after rising as much as 0.5 percent earlier. The yen appreciated 0.6 percent to 84.69 versus the dollar. Oil declined below $75 a barrel, while copper rose for a third day. Treasury 10-year note yields slid 5 basis points to less than 2.6 percent. Benchmark equity indexes extended three weeks of losses as the 0.2 percent growth in U.S. personal incomes spurred concern that an improvement in consumer spending will not last. Disposable incomes, or the money left over after taxes, dropped for the first time since January after adjusting for inflation, showing the lack of jobs is hurting Americans’ spending power. “Personal income is important here because the average consumer is really struggling with a lot of debt,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co., which oversees more than $85 billion. “The pessimism in the market has gotten pretty acute.” The S&P 500’s decline was led by financial and telephone companies, with gauges of both industries losing at least 0.4 percent. Two stocks declined for every one that rose in Europe’s Stoxx 600. U.K. markets were closed for a holiday. Takeover Bids Intel Corp., the world’s biggest chipmaker, agreed to buy Infineon Technologies AG’s wireless unit for about $1.4 billion, and Sanofi-Aventis SA opened the door to a hostile bid for Genzyme Corp. after going public with an $18.5 billion cash offer for the U.S. company. Posco, the third-biggest steelmaker, agreed to acquire South Korean trader Daewoo International Corp. for 3.37 trillion won ($2.8 billion) to expand raw material resources. Zodiac Aerospace SA jumped 13 percent after La Tribune reported that Safran SA is preparing another bid for Europe’s biggest maker of airplane seats. Safran fell 2.7 percent. More than $1 trillion in mergers have been announced this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The yen climbed 0.9 percent against the euro after the Bank of Japan expanded a program of providing loans to banks by 10 trillion yen ($116 billion) today, falling short of some traders’ expectations. The dollar gained 0.4 percent against the euro to $1.2708 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke pledged Aug. 27 to safeguard the recovery. Emerging Markets The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1.3 percent, the most in four weeks. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.7 percent, with benchmark gauges in China, South Korea and South Africa climbing more than 1 percent. Copper for delivery in December climbed as much as 2.2 percent to $3.46 a pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange, rising to the highest level in three weeks. Oil fell 0.5 percent to $74.83 a barrel in New York, after rallying 2.5 percent on Aug. 27 when Bernanke made his statements. Wheat for December delivery rose 2 percent to $7.0875 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade as Russia’s export ban for the grain and rain that hurt quality in Germany boosted demand for U.S. supplies. Corn for delivery the same month rose 1.5 percent to $4.425 a bushel as dry U.S. weather threatens to reduce yields in the world’s biggest grower of the grain. To contact the reporters on this story: Kelly Bit in New York at kbit@bloomberg.net; Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net

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