European stocks declined for a fourth day

European stocks declined for a fourth day as investors awaited U.S. jobs, services and home-sales data to gauge the timing of the Federal Reserve’s paring of stimulus. U.S. futures were little changed, while Asian shares fell.

The euro area’s nascent recovery from a record-long recession nearly stalled in the third quarter, according to figures released today by the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg. Gross domestic product rose 0.1 percent after a 0.3 percent gain in the previous three months. That was in line with Eurostat’s initial estimate. From a year earlier, the economy contracted 0.4 percent.

Elekta dropped 4.3 percent to 92.45 kronor after the maker of radiation-surgery equipment reported second-quarter operating profit of 304 million kronor ($47 million), missing the average analyst estimate for 424 million kronor.

Standard Chartered slid 6.7 percent to 1,334.5 pence, the lowest price since August 2012. The U.K. bank that generates about three-quarters of its profits from Asia said full-year operating profit at its consumer-banking unit will decline at least 10 percent because of weakness in Korea.

Peugeot climbed 2.2 percent to 11.75 euros after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. added the shares to its conviction-buy list, citing a capital increase, asset disposals and a probable alliance in China. Renault SA rose 0.4 percent to 62.12 euros after the brokerage upgraded the carmaker to neutral from sell.

FTSE 100 6,521.75 -10.68 -0.16%

CAC 40 4,167.57 -4.87 -0.12%

DAX 9,222.68 -0.72 -0.01%