European stocks were little changed

European stocks were little changed after the Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed to its highest level since May 2008. U.S. stock-index futures were little changed and Asian shares gained.

The Stoxx 600 slipped less than 0.1 percent to 327.55 at 9:37 a.m. in London. The equity gauge has gained 0.9 percent this month.

The Stoxx 600 gained 2 percent last week, completing its second weekly increase, following better-than-forecast U.S. economic data and after the International Monetary Fund said it will raise its growth outlook for the nation. The index has advanced 17 percent this year and is heading for its biggest annual rally since 2009.

Vedanta climbed 2.5 percent to 924 pence. Its subsidiary Sesa Sterlite, India’s biggest producer of aluminum, zinc and copper, received permission from a committee appointed by the nation’s top court to resume mining at its Karnataka mine.

Swatch dropped 1.4 percent to 585.50 Swiss francs. A fire yesterday morning caused considerable damage to a workshop of its ETA unit at Grenchen, in the Swiss canton of Solothurn. While nobody was harmed, the workshop was entirely destroyed, the company said yesterday, adding that it was too early to put a figure on the damage.

Sanofi retreated 0.8 percent to 75.92 euros. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said its Genzyme unit didn’t submit evidence from “adequate and well-controlled studies” showing that the benefits of Lemtrada outweigh its serious adverse effects, the Paris-based company said in a statement.

FTSE 100 6,738.18 -12.69 -0.19 %

CAC 40 4,272.3 -5.35 -0.13 %

DAX 9,577.7 -11.69 -0.12 %