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La original de Reuters, unos minutos antes...

NEW YORK, July 18 (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc [C.N], the largest U.S. bank, on Friday posted a $2.5 billion second-quarter loss, suffering write-downs and credit losses tied to deteriorating credit markets and the slumping economy. The net loss totaled 54 cents per share, and compared with a year-earlier profit of $6.23 billion, or $1.24 per share. Citigroup said its loss from continuing operations was $2.22 billion, or 49 cents per share. The following is reaction from industry analysts and investors: MARTIN SLANEY, HEAD OF DERIVATIVES, GFT GLOBAL MAKETS, LONDON "The net share loss...is coming in better than consensus. Citigroup just because of the spread of their business is seen as a barometer of banking sector pretty much as a whole this day, certainly for U.S. banks and also the UK banks, so things aren't possibly as bad as have been priced in. It's going to help UK banks ... But we've still got plenty of second quarter earnings season to go, so possibly next week it will be a different story." STEPHEN POPE, CHIEF GLOBAL MARKET STRATEGIST CANTOR FITZGERALD EUROPE, IN LONDON "I am pleased to see income from "Wealth Management" improve as I believe that for a bank like Citi this is a crucial forward looking area for revenue generation...transactional based revenue will become harder to achieve in the quarters ahead