Europe Stocks Are Little Changed as Unilever Rises, Miners Drop

Bloomberg (21/01) -- European stocks were little changed, erasing earlier gains, as a rally in food and beverage makers offset a decline in mining stocks.

Unilever gained 2.1 percent after the maker of Magnum ice cream and TRESemme shampoo reported fourth-quarter sales growth that exceeded estimates. Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest miners, each declined at least 1.9 percent. Alstom SA tumbled 14 percent after the French maker of trains and power equipment reduced its operating-margin outlook. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed less than 0.1 percent to 335.65 at 4:35 p.m. in London. The gauge rallied as much as 0.6 percent earlier. Profit at Stoxx 600 companies will probably increase 13.4 percent on average this year, following a 5.3 percent drop in 2013, according to Bloomberg calculations based on analyst estimates. The European equity gauge climbed 17 percent last year, ending 2013 trading at 15.4 times its members’ projected earnings, the highest valuation in four years.