(index / closing price / change items /% change)

Nikkei 15,120.14 -153.93 -1.01%

Hang Seng 22,264.93 -395.56 -1.75%

Shanghai Composite 1,999.06 -58.84 -2.86%

S&P 1,877.17 -0.87 -0.05%

NASDAQ 4,334.45 -1.77 -0.04%

Dow 16,418.68 -34.04 -0.21%   

FTSE  6,689.45 -23.22 -0.35%    

CAC 4,370.84 +4.42 +0.10%    

DAX 9,265.5 -85.25 -0.91%

European stocks declined, following their first weekly drop since January, on rising tensions over Ukraine’s Crimea region and after an unexpected slump in Chinese exports triggered a selloff in mining stocks.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.5 percent. The benchmark gauge slid 1.5 percent last week as company earnings disappointed and concern grew that the standoff between Russia and Ukraine would escalate.

In China, overseas shipments unexpectedly dropped 18.1 percent in February from a year earlier, according to customs data on March 8. The median estimate of analysts called for an increase of 7.5 percent.

National benchmark indexes dropped in 12 of the 18 western-European markets today.

FTSE 100 6,689.45 -23.22 -0.35% CAC 40 4,370.84 +4.42 +0.10% DAX 9,265.5 -85.25 -0.91%

Vodafone Group Plc fell 3.4 percent to 230.5 pence. Expansion said the phone company could offer as much as 7.5 billion euros for Grupo Corporativo Ono SA. The Spanish newspaper cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter. The British company on March 5 raised its bid to about 7 billion euros in a meeting with key Ono shareholders Providence Equity Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners, two people familiar with the matter said.

Aryzta AG declined 3.5 percent to 71.40 Swiss francs. The supplier of bakery products said its first-half ">Iliad jumped 11 percent to 210 euros. Bouygues said it is in exclusive talks to sell part of its network and wireless spectrum to the Free operator for as much as 1.8 billion euros ($2.5 billion). Bouygues climbed 8.5 percent to 32.64 euros.

Bouygues, the construction and telecommunications company seeking to merge its mobile-phone assets with Vivendi SA’s SFR, said the negotiations will help address concerns of the French Competition Authority. Vivendi added 0.1 percent to 20.34 euros.

Rolls-Royce climbed 1.3 percent to 1,039 pence. Daimler is selling its holding in Rolls-Royce Power Systems under a put option agreed with the maker of commercial-jet engines when the venture was established three years ago. The stake is valued at 1.9 billion pounds ($3.2 billion). Daimler fell 1.2 percent to 66.66 euros.

Hochtief AG rose 2.4 percent to 69.99 euros. Germany’s largest builder offered A$1.16 billion ($1.05 billion) to raise its stake in Leighton Holdings Ltd. to as much as 74 percent from 59 percent. Hochtief said the deal was a strategic investment in Australia’s largest builder and it may consider a full takeover. Leighton surged 11 percent to A$23.09.

U.S. stock futures slipped as investors weighed a slowdown in Chinese exports for clues about the strength of the global economy.

Global markets:

Nikkei 15,120.14 -153.93 -1.01%

Hang Seng 22,264.93 -395.56 -1.75%

Shanghai Composite 1,999.06 -58.84 -2.86%

FTSE 6,711.51 -1.16 -0.02%

CAC 4,391.82 +25.40 +0.58%

DAX 9,326.81 -23.94 -0.26%

Crude oil $101.32 (-1.23%)

Gold $1338.60 (+0.03%).

European stocks were little changed after their first weekly drop since January, as heightened deal activity outweighed data showing that Chinese exports unexpectedly slumped. U.S. stock-index futures were little changed and Asian shares fell.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.1 percent to 333.53 at 10:09 a.m. in London. The benchmark gauge slid 1.5 percent last week as company earnings disappointed and concern grew that the standoff between Russia and Ukraine would escalate. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures slipped 0.1 percent, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 1.1 percent.

Overseas shipments in China unexpectedly dropped 18.1 percent in February from a year earlier, according to customs data on March 8. The median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg called for an increase of 7.5 percent. Producer prices fell 2 percent, the most since July, a statistics bureau report showed yesterday, extending the longest decline since 1999.

Iliad jumped 13 percent to 212.70 euros. Bouygues said it is in exclusive talks to sell part of its network and wireless spectrum to the operator of the Free brand for as much as 1.8 billion euros ($2.5 billion). Bouygues climbed 9.7 percent to 33.02 euros.

Bouygues, the construction and telecommunications company seeking to merge its mobile-phone assets with Vivendi SA’s SFR, said the negotiations will help address antitrust concerns of the French Competition Authority. Vivendi advanced 1.9 percent to 20.71 euros.

Rolls-Royce climbed 2.2 percent to 1,049 pence. Daimler is selling its holding in Rolls-Royce Power Systems under a put option agreed with the maker of commercial-jet engines when the venture was established three years ago. The stake is valued at 1.9 billion pounds ($3.2 billion).

Hochtief AG rose 2.6 percent to 70.08 euros. Germany’s largest builder offered A$1.16 billion ($1.05 billion) to raise its stake in Leighton Holdings Ltd. to as much as 74 percent from 59 percent. Hochtief said the deal was a strategic investment in Australia’s largest builder and it may consider a full takeover.

FTSE 100 6,735.13 +22.46 +0.33%

CAC 40 4,398.27 +31.85 +0.73%

DAX 9,342.95 -7.80 -0.08%

Asian stocks fell, with the regional benchmark index retreating from a six-week high, after reports showed an unexpected slump in Chinese exports and slower growth in Japan than economists had projected.

Nikkei 225 15,120.14 -153.93 -1.01%

S&P/ASX 200 5,411.52 -50.79 -0.93%

Shanghai Composite 1,999.06 -58.84 -2.86%

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., Australia’s No. 3 producer of iron ore, sank 9.4 percent in Sydney after futures for the metal used to make steel fell into a bear market.

Malaysian Airline System Bhd. headed for a record low after one of its planes bound for Beijing vanished two days ago with 239 people aboard.

Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. dropped 2.6 percent in Mumbai after the Indian pharmaceutical company recalled a generic cholesterol-lowering drug.