European stock fell

European stocks fluctuated between gains and losses as investors awaited developments in talks on raising the U.S. debt limit and restoring government operations. U.S. index futures and Asian shares declined.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped less than 0.1 percent to 311.44 at 10:57 a.m. in London. The gauge has advanced 0.3 percent in October even as U.S. lawmakers failed to agree on a budget, forcing the first partial government shutdown in 17 years. The world’s biggest economy will exhaust its borrowing authority on Thursday without action by Congress to raise the debt limit.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday that he had a “productive conversation” with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell without reaching a conclusion on a plan to send to the chamber for a vote. Senate Republicans have blocked a Democratic plan to push the next debt-limit fight into 2015 and Senate Democrats rejected a proposal from Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine.

Collins’s group of moderate senators trying to frame a deal will probably meet again today, said a Senate Democratic aide with knowledge of the negotiations. The House of Representatives plans to reconvene at noon in Washington, with the Senate meeting from 2 p.m.

China’s exports unexpectedly fell in September. Overseas shipments dropped 0.3 percent from a year earlier, the General Administration of Customs said in Beijing on Oct. 12. The slowdown resulted from a high basis of comparison with last year, the agency said.

The Stoxx 600 has rallied 11 percent in 2013 as the euro area emerged from a recession and central banks maintained stimulus measures to support the global economy.

Dassault declined 6.1 percent to 90.55 euros, the largest slide since August 2011. Revenue in the third quarter, excluding currency effects, rose 4 percent, falling short of targeted growth of 8 percent to 9 percent, according to a company statement.

Konecranes lost 4.9 percent to 23.13 euros in Helsinki as the company forecast that 2013 sales will be “slightly lower” than last year.

Peugeot plunged 10 percent to 11.08 euros, the biggest decline since April 2009. The carmaker is preparing to sell 3 billion euros ($4.1 billion) of new stock, with China’s Dongfeng Motor Corp. and the French government buying matching stakes in Europe’s second-biggest carmaker, Reuters reported, citing three unidentified people.

Ericsson AB, the largest maker of wireless-network equipment, retreated 2.3 percent to 82.80 kronor. Barclays Plc downgraded the shares to underweight, similar to a sell recommendation, from equal weight, saying third-quarter earnings may disappoint.

FTSE 100 6,495.94 +8.75 +0.13%

CAC 40 4,219.14 -0.84 -0.02%

DAX 8,720.21 -4.62 -0.05%