European stocks declined as President Mario Draghi reiterated the European Central Bank’s pledge to keep interest rates low as he warned that it’s too soon to say the euro region is out of danger.

The ECB’s Governing Council, convening in Frankfurt today for the first policy-setting meeting of 2014, left the main refinancing rate at 0.25 percent, a decision predicted by all 51 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Officials held the deposit rate at zero and the "> “The Governing Council strongly emphasizes that it will maintain an accommodative stance of monetary policy for as long as necessary,” Draghi told reporters in Frankfurt today after the announcement.

He refused to say the fight against Europe’s debt crisis is won, even as stocks and bonds rally and countries such as Ireland and Portugal return to the debt market.

The Bank of England also kept its benchmark rate at a record-low 0.5 percent today, while its bond-purchase target stayed at 375 billion pounds ($618 billion).

National benchmark indexes slipped in 10 of the 18 western European markets. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 lost 0.5 percent, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.8 percent and Germany’s DAX declined 0.8 percent.

Arkema slipped 3.1 percent to 79.50 euros after lowering its forecast for 2013 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to around 900 million euros ($1.22 billion) from a previous estimate of 920 million euros.

TGS soared 17 percent to 172.50 kroner after Norway’s biggest surveyor of underwater oil and gas fields forecast 2013 revenue of about $882 million, compared with previous guidance of $810 million to $870 million.

AstraZeneca added 0.7 percent to 3,572.5 pence. The Food and Drug Administration said in a statement yesterday it approved dapagliflozin, a treatment for Type 2 diabetes. The pill by AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb is the second in a new class of medicines for the disease, with Johnson & Johnson gaining clearance for its treatment in March.

Genel Energy added 3.5 percent to 1,117 pence as HSBC Holdings Plc upgraded its rating on the shares to overweight, similar to a buy, from neutral. HSBC said in a note that many exploration and production companies are now trading below core-asset value.

U.S. stock futures climbed, as Macy’s Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. rallied and jobless claims fell to the lowest level in a month.

Global markets:

Nikkei 15,880.33 -241.12 -1.50%

Hang Seng 22,787.33 -209.26 -0.91%

Shanghai Composite 2,027.62 -16.72 -0.82%

FTSE 6,721.15 -0.63 -0.01%

CAC 4,252.3 -8.66 -0.20%

DAX 9,508.29 +10.45 +0.11%

Crude oil $92.65 (+0.35%)

Gold $1226.20 (+0.06%).

European stocks advanced as investors awaited the European Central Bank’s interest-rate decision. U.S. stock futures were little changed, while Asian shares fell.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.3 percent to 330.72 at 9:21 a.m. in London. The benchmark gauge rose 0.9 percent in the past two sessions to the highest level since May 2008. The Stoxx 600 rallied 17 percent last year as central banks around the world kept interest rates low.

ECB President Mario Draghi today convenes the first rate-setting meeting of 2014 in Frankfurt. The central bank will maintain its key interest rate at a record low of 0.25 percent, according to the median forecast of economists.

The Bank of England announces its interest-rate decision at noon in London. Policy makers will hold the key rate at 0.5 percent and maintain the asset-purchase target at 375 billion pounds ($617 billion), economists predicted.

In the U.S., minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting showed officials saw declining economic gains from its monthly bond-buying program. The Fed decided at the meeting to start reducing the size of its asset purchases by $10 billion to $75 billion starting this month.

Participants were also concerned “about the ">TGS soared 13 percent to 166.40 kroner after Norway’s biggest surveyor of underwater oil and gas fields forecast 2013 revenue of about $882 million, compared with a previous guidance in the range of $810 million to $870 million.

AstraZeneca Plc added 1.6 percent to 3,607 pence. The Food and Drug Administration said in a statement yesterday it approved dapagliflozin, a treatment for Type 2 diabetes. The pill by AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. is the second in a new class of medicines for the disease, with Johnson & Johnson gaining clearance for its treatment in March.

Tesco declined 2.5 percent to 320.2 pence after saying comparable sales, excluding fuel and value added taxes, fell 2.4 percent in the six weeks to Jan. 4. That missed analysts’ predictions of a 2.2 percent drop. A gauge of retail stocks posted the second-worst decline of the 19 industry groups on the Stoxx 600.

Arkema fell 3.2 percent to 79.46 euros after lowering its forecast for 2013 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to around 900 million euros ($1.22 billion) from a previous estimate of 920 million euros.

FTSE 100 6,739.63 +17.85 +0.27%

CAC 40 4,269.32 +8.36 +0.20%

DAX 9,530.57 +32.73 +0.34%

Asian stocks fell as China’s factory-gate prices extended the longest streak of declines since the Asian financial crisis and Federal Reserve minutes showed officials saw diminishing benefits from bond buying.

Nikkei 225 15,880.33 -241.12 -1.50%

Hang Seng 22,787.33 -209.26 -0.91%

S&P/ASX 200 5,324.41 +8.36 +0.16%

Shanghai Composite 2,027.62 -16.72 -0.82%

Canon Inc. lost 2 percent in Tokyo on a report operating profit at the world’s biggest camera maker probably missed its own forecast.

Belle International Holdings Ltd., China’s No. 1 seller of footwear, fell 3.4 percent in Hong Kong after surging 13 percent yesterday.

Daiei Inc. slumped 7.3 percent in Tokyo as the supermarket operator cut its operating-profit forecast.

Nikkei 225 16,121.45 +307.08 +1.94%

Hang Seng 23,003.22 +290.44 +1.28%

S&P/ASX 200 5,316.05 -0.94 -0.02%

Shanghai Composite 2,044.34 -2.98 -0.15%

FTSE 100 6,721.78 -33.67 -0.50%

CAC 40 4,260.96 -1.72 -0.04%

DAX 9,497.84 -8.36 -0.09%

Dow 16,461.45 -69.49 -0.42%

Nasdaq 4,165.61 +12.43 +0.30%

S&P 500 1,837.47 -0.41 -0.02%