European stocks were little changed

European stocks were little changed near a six-year high as HSBC Holdings Plc fell after reporting worse-than-estimated profit, offsetting a surge in Scania AB following a Volkswagen AG bid. U.S. index futures were little changed, while Asian shares slipped.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell less than 0.1 percent to 335.79 at 9:12 a.m. in London. The benchmark gained 0.8 percent last week, reaching its highest level since January 2008, as companies from Meda AB to Valeo SA posted better-than-estimated earnings. The gauge has advanced 4.1 percent this month. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.1 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 0.2 percent.

In Germany, a report showed the Ifo Institute’s business climate index, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, unexpectedly rose to 111.3 in February from 110.6 a month earlier. Economists in a Bloomberg survey had predicted a drop to 110.5 this month.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi faces his first confidence vote in parliament today since taking office last week. Renzi will address the Senate at 2 p.m. in Rome to introduce his 16-member cabinet and outline his strategy for governance.

HSBC, Europe’s biggest lender, dropped the most in six months.

PostNL NV slid the most in 13 months after reporting a wider loss than analysts had projected.

Scania soared to its highest level since July 2007 after Volkswagen offered to buy the remaining stake in the Swedish truckmaker for 6.7 billion euros ($9.2 billion).

FTSE 100 6,814.16 -23.90 -0.35%

CAC 40 4,381.36 +0.30 +0.01%

DAX 9,639.87 -17.08 -0.18%