(Reuters) - Stocks dropped more than 1 percent at the open on Monday as worries escalated about the euro-zone debt crisis after Standard & Poor's cut Italy's rating outlook and Spain's ruling Socialists suffered an elections setback. S&P cut its rating outlook for Italy to negative from stable, citing weak growth prospects and increased risks from a mountain of debt. The cut came on the heels of a downgrade of Greece's credit rating by Fitch Ratings on Friday.

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(Reuters) - Sony Corp will post its third straight annual net loss for the year that ended in March after writing off tax credits in the wake of Japan's earthquake and tsunami, the latest in a string of grim headlines on the consumer electronics giant. The maker of PlayStation video games, Vaio computers and Bravia TVs has been battling to recover from the March 11 disaster, and more recently, a series of security breaches on its networks that affected more than 100 million user accounts.

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(Reuters) - Financial markets piled pressure on peripheral euro zone countries on Monday as investors worried about heightened risks in Spain and Greece and fresh concerns over Italy. A weekend wipe-out of Spain's ruling Socialists in regional and municipal elections raised fears of potential clashes over deficit curbs between central and local government as Madrid fights to avoid having to seek a bailout like Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

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(Reuters) - Indian software services exporter Mahindra Satyam (SATY.NS) posted on Monday a net loss for its fiscal fourth quarter, hurt by a one-time expense due to settlement of a U.S. shareholder lawsuit, sending its shares down as much as 6 percent. Satyam stunned investors in 2009 when its former chairman and founder Ramalinga Raju revealed that the company fraudulently inflated revenue, income and cash balances by more than $1 billion over five years.

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(Reuters) - Schawk Inc (SGK.N), a provider of digital imaging graphic services, said it may face U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges relating to a 2008 restatement, and its shares fell as much as 8.9 percent. The company said it received a "Wells notice" from the SEC on May 17 concerning alleged securities law violations pertaining to the maintenance of accurate books and records and adequate internal accounting controls. Schawk did not immediately return a call seeking an additional comment.

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(Reuters) - Manufacturers in Europe and China tapped the brakes this month and price pressures eased as tighter policy measures to control inflation began to bite, purchasing managers' indexes showed on Monday. Preliminary purchasing managers' surveys pointed to marginally slower economic growth in the euro zone and China in the second quarter while growth in the common currency bloc's dominant service sector also slowed more sharply than expected.

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(Reuters) - Japan's return to recession and a bigger-than-expected slump in first-quarter economic growth are negative for its credit rating, Moody's Investors Service said, warning that a delay in recovery could warrant additional fiscal and monetary stimulus. The triple blow of the March earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis has nudged Japan into recession and led to a surprisingly deep 0.9 percent contraction in January-March, which Moody's said was negative for Japan's rating and made it increasingly urgent for Prime Minister Naoto Kan to compile a second extra budget.

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(Reuters) - Shares of electronics company Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (2317.TW) fell as much as 5 percent on Monday on fears major client Apple Inc (AAPL.O) may shift orders to other producers following a blast at one of the company's plants in China. Foxconn Technology Group, of which Hon Hai is the flagship unit and Apple's biggest manufacturing partner, said three people had died following a large explosion at its plant in the south western city of Chengdu on Friday.

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(Reuters) - Citigroup Inc (C.N) has hired Samuel Di Piazza, Jr, the former chief executive of PricewaterhouseCoopers PWC.UL, to help its faltering investment bank rebuild after the financial crisis. Di Piazza, who retired from PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2009, will be a vice chairman in Citigroup's institutional clients group and a member of the bank's senior strategic advisory group.

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(Reuters) - Campbell Soup Co (CPB.N) reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Monday and forecast full-year results at the high end of its range, after moving its focus from profit-sapping promotions to advertisements. Yet the world's top soup maker saw U.S. soup sales fall for the fourth straight quarter, a sign that it may take some time for Chief Operating Officer Denise Morrison to turn around the company after she likely takes over as CEO this summer.

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