European stocks retreated, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index halting its longest winning streak of the year, as companies from Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc to BNP Paribas (BNP) SA reported results. Asian shares and U.S. index futures fell.
The Stoxx 600 dropped 0.6 percent to 330.11 at 10:09 a.m. in London. The gauge jumped 4.5 percent in the six days through yesterday, with comments by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen fueling optimism the economy can weather further stimulus cuts. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures fell 0.4 percent, and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.9 percent.
A U.S. Commerce Department report at 8:30 a.m. New York time may show that retail sales were unchanged in January, after rising 0.2 percent the previous month, according to the median economist forecast in a Bloomberg survey. Separate data will probably show that initial-unemployment claims dropped to 330,000 in the week ended Feb. 8 from 331,000 the prior period.
Rolls-Royce tumbled 13 percent to 1,051 pence. The maker of commercial-jet engines said 2014 revenue won’t increase because lower demand for defense equipment cuts into civil-aviation sales. The company reported that pretax profit excluding hedging and some one-time items rose to 1.76 billion pounds ($2.9 billion) in 2013, while sales advanced 27 percent to 15.5 billion pounds.
BNP Paribas retreated 4 percent to 58.39 euros. Net income fell to 127 million euros ($173 million) from 519 million euros a year earlier after the lender set aside $1.1 billion tied to a review of payments to parties subject to U.S. economic sanctions. That was the lowest quarterly result since 2008, and it missed the 1.02 billion-euro average analyst estimate.
Nestle, the world’s largest food company, slipped 1.6 percent to 66 Swiss francs. The company projected that revenue will rise about 5 percent this year excluding acquisitions, disposals and currency shifts. Nestle also reported the smallest annual sales advance in four years amid sluggish spending in developed markets.
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