European Stocks Little Changed After Two-Week Gain for Stoxx 600

Bloomberg (20/01) -- European stocks were little changed, after a two-week rally pushed the Stoxx Europe 600 Index to a six-year high, as a decline in bank shares offset a rally in luxury-goods companies. U.S. index futures were little changed.

Deutsche Bank AG dropped the most since September 2012 after Germany’s largest lender reported a surprise fourth-quarter loss. PSA Peugeot Citroen tumbled 11 percent after Europe’s second-biggest carmaker was said to have obtained board approval for a capital increase of 3 billion euros ($4.1 billion). Luxottica Group SpA rose 4 percent after Deutsche Bank advised investors to buy shares in the maker of Ray-Ban sunglasses. The Stoxx 600 slipped 0.1 percent to 335.5 at the close of trading. The benchmark jumped 1.8 percent last week, extending its gain since the start of the year to 2.3 percent, as mining companies rallied and the World Bank raised its global-growth forecasts. That pushed the measure’s price-to-earnings ratio based on its members’ estimated earnings to 14.1, above the five-year average of 12.1. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures slid less than 0.1 percent today. The U.S. equity markets are closed for a holiday marking the birthday of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.