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U.S. and European stocks fell, extending losses from the first weekly decline for global equities in more than a month, as the World Bank said the recession will be deeper than previously forecast. Treasuries rose, while a drop in commodities sent oil below $68 a barrel.

Equities and commodities retreated after the World Bank forecast today the global economy will contract 2.9 percent this year. That compares with a prior estimate of a 1.7 percent decline. Growth is expected to return next year with a 2 percent expansion, lower than the 2.3 percent prediction about three months ago.

Executives at U.S. companies are taking advantage of the biggest stock-market rally in 71 years to sell their shares at the fastest pace since credit markets started to seize up two years ago. This is a clue that the stock market is already expensive. Sales by CEOs, directors and senior officers have accelerated to the highest level since June 2007, two months before credit markets froze, as the S&P 500 rebounded from its 12-year low in March. The increase is making investors more skittish because executives presumably have the best information about their companies’ prospects.

April’s record rally in European stocks pushed market valuations to the highest level in more than four years as investors bet the first global recession since World War II is easing.

The 13 percent advance in the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index last month sent the measure to 16.2 times its companies’ earnings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Forecasts for 2009 profit growth in the gauge fell to 18 percent on May 1 from 22 percent a month earlier, the biggest drop this year, after earnings declined 40 percent in 2008, according to data and analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.