European stocks were little changed after a three-week rally as investors awaited U.S. data on industrial production and housing for signs of the health of the world’s largest economy. U.S. futures and Asian shares rose.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1 percent to 319.81 at 11 a.m. in London, erasing an earlier gain of 0.3 percent. The benchmark gauge rose 0.5 percent last week as disappointing U.S. jobs data fueled bets the Federal Reserve will maintain its stimulus measures until at least March. The index has soared 14 percent in 2013, closing at a five-year high on Oct. 22.
Reports today may show U.S. industrial production rose 0.4 percent in September, while pending home sales were little changed, according to economists surveyed.
Members of the Federal Open Market Committee are scheduled to meet Oct. 29-30, when they will consider scaling back asset purchases that have helped the Stoxx 600 more than double since March 2009. Policy makers will wait until March before starting to taper the $85 billion of monthly bond purchases, a Bloomberg survey showed this month.
TNT Express (TNTE) climbed 3.9 percent to 7.07 euros even after the package-delivery company reported a decline in sales and operating income. The company said it will step up restructuring efforts, without providing further details.
Aggreko Plc, the world’s largest provider of mobile power generators, rose 3.5 percent to 1,570 pence after saying “underlying” revenue and trading ">Mediobanca SpA (MB) climbed 3.2 percent to 6.53 euros after fiscal first-quarter profit climbed 57 percent at Italy’s biggest publicly traded investment bank. Net income rose to 171.2 million euros in the three months ended Sept. 30 from 109 million euros a year earlier, including a 58.8 million-euro gain from the sale of part of its holding in Telco SpA.
FTSE 100 6,717.4 -3.94 -0.1%
CAC 40 4,251.56 -20.75 -0.5%
DAX 8,984.05 -1.69 0.0%