European Stocks are little changed before FOMC minutes

European stocks were little changed, following the biggest two-day gain since April, as investors awaited cues from central banks. U.S. index futures and Asian shares were little changed.

Heineken NV (HEIA) advanced 6.6 percent after reporting first-half profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates. Carlsberg A/S dropped 5.5 percent after the brewer cut its full-year earnings forecast. Balfour Beatty Plc slipped 5.9 percent after rejecting an increased bid by Carillion Plc.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index retreated 0.1 percent to 335.18 at 8:13 a.m. in London. The equity benchmark gauge rallied 1.8 percent in the past two days as concern eased over the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, closing 3.3 percent above its low on Aug. 8. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.1 percent.

The Bank of England publishes the minutes from its August policy meeting at 9:30 a.m. in London, and the Federal Reserve releases the minutes of its July 29-30 gathering after European markets close. Both central banks are considering when to start raising interest rates in their respective countries.

The annual Fed Bank of Kansas City’s economic symposium starts tomorrow in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Fed Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will discuss their outlook for the economy and monetary policy on Aug. 22.

Heineken Earnings

Heineken gained 6.6 percent to 56.39 euros after the world’s third-largest brewer posted first-half earnings before interest and taxes of 1.45 billion euros ($1.93 billion), excluding some items. That surpassed the 1.32 billion euros that analysts had projected in a Bloomberg survey.

Vestas Wind Systems A/S advanced 2.3 percent to 281.6 kroner after raising its margin forecast on earnings before interest, taxes and special items. The world’s largest wind-turbine maker expects it will reach at least 6 percent this year, a percentage point higher than its previous estimate. The manufacturer reported net income of 94 million euros in the three months through June, rebounding from a 62 million-euro loss a year earlier.

Glencore Plc climbed 0.5 percent to 360.8 pence. The miner said first-half adjusted net income rose to $2.01 billion from a restated $1.9 billion a year earlier. That exceeded the $1.93 billion average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. It also announced a share buyback of $1 billion after completing the sale of a copper mine in Peru this month.

Carlsberg Forecast

Carlsberg declined 5.5 percent to 510 kroner. Russia’s biggest brewer said operating profit will rise at a low- to mid-single-digit pace on a so-called organic basis. The Tuborg beer previously forecast high-single-digit percentage growth. Carlsberg, which got 27 percent of its 2013 revenue from eastern Europe, said it expects the beer category to deteriorate in the second half of the year, with distributors in Russia stocking less.

Balfour Beatty slid 5.9 percent to 240.9 pence after the British builder rejected a new merger bid that Carillion made yesterday, citing risks from a strategy to reduce the scale of the U.K. construction business. Carillion’s proposal valued Balfour Beatty at 2.1 billion pounds ($3.5 billion) in an offer that represented a premium of 36 percent to the weighted average share price before the talks were announced.

Source: bloomberg.com