European stocks were little changed

European stocks were little changed as investors weighed earnings from companies including Schneider Electric Plc and Airbus Group NV, and the U.S. joined Europe in imposing new sanctions on Russia for its role in the insurgency in Ukraine. U.S. stock futures were also little changed, while Asian shares rose.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced late yesterday penalties for American citizens dealing with equity or bonds of VTB Bank OAO, Bank of Moscow and Russian Agricultural Bank. United Shipbuilding Corp., which has contracts with the Russian military, was also sanctioned.

The Federal Reserve will reduce its monthly purchases for the sixth time to $25 billion from $35 billion as it ends a two-day meeting after European markets close today, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

An ADP Research Institute report at 8:15 a.m. New York time may show U.S. companies added 230,000 workers to their payrolls in July, following a 281,000 increase last month, according to the median economist projection in a Bloomberg survey. A government report 15 minutes later may show the U.S. economy expanded 3 percent in the second-quarter, following a 2.9 percent contraction in the first three months of the year.

Schneider declined 3.2 percent after first-half adjusted earnings missed analysts' estimates.

Airbus climbed 5.2 percent after posting a 10 percent increase in first-half earnings.

FTSE 100 6,805.04 -2.71 -0.04%

CAC 40 4,353.8 -11.78 -0.27%

DAX 9,641.04 -12.59 -0.13%