European stocks erased their advance

European stocks erased their advance as Renault SA dragged carmakers lower, offsetting reports of better-than-expected profit at companies including BP Plc and Ferrovial SA. U.S. index futures were little changed, while Asian shares climbed.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.1 percent to 341.01 at 9:14 a.m. in London, erasing a gain of as much as 0.3 percent. The benchmark trades at 15.5 times the projected earnings of its members, more than the multiple of 13.9 at the beginning of this year and the five-year average of 12.6, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.2 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.3 percent.

"What we are still missing is a very positive beat, but the outlook for the year and the results in the third quarter will be more important," said Carsten Hilck, who oversees about $4 billion at Union Investment Privatfonds GmbH in Frankfurt. "Even though valuations are a little bit stretched now, it's still not too expensive to remain invested."

Renault slid 3.2 percent as the French carmaker revealed that it is consuming more cash than it did a year ago.

BP climbed after the oil producer also announced a dividend that matched estimates.

Ferrovial gained 1.4 percent after the Spanish construction company posted first-half profit that exceeded projections and said it will buy back shares.

FTSE 100 6,803.96 +15.89 +0.23%

CAC 40 4,346.12 +1.35 +0.03%

DAX 9,603.03 +4.86 +0.05%