European stocks retreated, after the Stoxx Europe 600 Index’s biggest weekly advance in more than a month, as world leaders gather in The Hague to discuss tension over Ukraine and a manufacturing gauge for China and Germany slipped. U.S. index futures and Asian shares rose.
Centrica Plc declined 1.2 percent after a report said U.K.’s biggest utilities may be split. Royal KPN (KPN) NV lost 2.4 percent after Citigroup Inc. downgraded the stock. CEZ AS, the biggest Czech utility, climbed 3.4 percent after the nation’s finance minister said the government is seeking a 100 percent dividend payout.
The Stoxx 600 fell 0.7 percent to 325.48 at 9:27 a.m. in London. The benchmark index advanced 1.8 percent last week as Russian President Vladimir Putin said he won’t seek territory beyond Crimea. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.2 percent, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 1.1 percent.
Leaders of the U.S., the European Union, China, Japan and others meet today as concern grows that Russia is massing soldiers on Ukraine’s border. U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague wrote in yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph that Russia’s troop buildup means the crisis may worsen, calling the situation the most serious risk to European security in the 21st century.
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