European stocks close:

European stocks retreated from a five-month high as U.S. home sales rose less than forecast, adding to concern that gains in equities have outpaced the outlook for economic growth.

Greek officials and private creditors met for a third day to seek agreement on a debt swap. European officials and bondholders agreed in October to implement a 50 percent cut in the face value of Greek debt by voluntarily exchanging outstanding bonds for new securities, with a goal of reducing borrowings to 120 percent of gross domestic product by 2020.

The government and creditors reached an initial agreement for a voluntary swap of Greek debt, Proto Thema reported on its website, without saying how it got the information. The parties agreed that new bonds to replace existing Greek debt would be of a 30-year maturity and carry a coupon beginning at 3.1 percent, reach 3.9 percent and go as high as 4.75 percent, the Athens- based newspaper said.

National benchmark indexes fell in 12 of the 18 western European markets today. France’s CAC 40, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX Index all slid 0.2 percent. Greece’s ASE rallied 2.7 percent to a two-month high.

Cie. de Saint-Gobain, Europe’s largest building-materials supplier, led construction shares lower, falling 2 percent.

BP, the U.K.’s second-largest oil company, dropped 3.1 percent to 467.45 pence as crude declined for a third day in New York trading.

Petrofac Ltd. fell 4.3 percent to 1,440 pence, dropping for a sixth day, as JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded the shares.

Meyer Burger Technology AG, the biggest maker of solar- panel manufacturing equipment, sank 6.6 percent to 17.8 Swiss francs as Germany said it will increase the frequency of cuts to solar subsidies. Solarworld AG (SWV) slid 6.5 percent to 4.04 euros in Frankfurt trading.