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European stocks were little changed as German investor confidence surged, offsetting an unexpected decline in U.S. sales of existing homes.

German investor confidence increased to the highest in 2 1/2 years in January. The ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said its index of investor and analyst expectations, which aims to predict economic developments six months in advance, climbed to 31.5 from 6.9 in December. That’s the highest since May 2010. Economists forecast a gain to 12.

Sales of U.S. existing homes unexpectedly dropped in December, restrained by the lowest supply of properties in more than a decade.

Purchases fell 1 percent to a 4.94 million annual rate last month, the National Association of Realtors said in a report in Washington. That’s the second-highest reading since November 2009. The median forecast of 79 economists called for sales to increase to a 5.1 million rate.

In Asia, the Bank of Japan said it will shift to Federal Reserve-style open-ended asset purchases in its strongest commitment yet to ending two decades of deflation.

National benchmark indexes fell in 11 of the 18 western European markets. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was little changed, while France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.6 percent. Germany’s DAX lost 0.7 percent.

Vivendi SA, Europe’s biggest media and telecommunications company, lost 4 percent to 16.08 euros. Stephane Roussel, chief executive officer of Vivendi’s SFR phone business, said the unit expects a tough market for as long as 18 months, according to an interview published in Le Parisien.

Rightmove Plc gained 2.8 percent to 1,599 pence as UBS AG upgraded the British property-listings website owner to buy from neutral, saying that its competitive strengths remain intact.

Opap SA rallied 5.1 percent to 6.95 euros after Greek officials met to coordinate state asset-disposal plans, which include the sale of a 33 percent stake in Greece’s biggest gambling company.

Drillisch AG jumped 3.7 percent to 12.30 euros, its highest price in more than 12 years. The German telephone-services provider said it will increase its 2012 dividend to 1 euro a share from 70 cents a year earlier.

U.S. stock-index futures are mixed after benchmark indexes climbed to five-year highs last week, as investors weighed corporate earnings and awaited a report on existing home sales.
Shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) dropped  after providing a full-year forecast that was less than analysts estimated. Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) fell too as it reported a decline in adjusted earnings.  Shares of DuPont Co. (DD) advanced as fourth-quarter profit beat estimates.

Global Stocks:

Other:

Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated Apple (AAPL) at Buy, target lowered from $750 to $670.

Asian stocks outside Japan climbed as Samsung Electronics Co. rebounded from a one-month low. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped for a second day as the yen gained after the Bank of Japan said it will wait until next year to start open-ended asset purchases in pursuit of a 2 percent inflation target.

Nikkei 225 10,709.93 -37.81 -0.35%

Hang Seng 23,658.99 +68.08 +0.29%

S&P/ASX 200 4,779.08 +1.58 +0.03%

Shanghai Composite 2,315.14 -13.08 -0.56%

Samsung Electronics, the first South Korean company to be worth more than $200 billion, rose 1.8 percent, erasing yesterday’s decline to the lowest since Dec. 21.

China Merchants Holdings International Ltd., a container port operator, jumped 9.4 percent after a report that the government of Shenzhen is reviewing the use of land the company co-owns.

Most Asian stocks fell amid speculation shares may have risen too far, too fast. Japanese shares as the yen climbed against the dollar after hitting its lowest level in 2 1/2 years.

Nikkei 225 10,747.74 -165.56 -1.52%

Hang Seng 23,590.91 -10.87 -0.05%

S&P/ASX 200 4,777.5 +6.27 +0.13%

Shanghai Composite 2,328.22 +11.15 +0.48%

Sims Metal Management Ltd., the world’s largest scrap metal recycler, dropped 5 percent in Sydney as an internal investigation revealed potential fraud at two of its U.K. businesses.

Fanuc Corp. slid 3.9 percent in Tokyo after the factory-robotics company’s rating was cut at Citigroup Inc.

China Vanke Co., the country’s biggest publicly traded property developer, surged 10 percent in Shenzhen on plans to move trading of its foreign-currency denominated shares to Hong Kong.

European stocks climbed to a one- week high as euro-area finance ministers met for the first time this year to address the region’s debt crisis.

Euro-area finance ministers gathered in Brussels today to discuss how to channel firewall funds to banks. Policy makers were likely to debate how and when the 500 billion-euro ($666 billion) European Stability Mechanism can bypass governments.

In Asia, the Bank of Japan will expand asset purchases when a two-day meeting concludes tomorrow, according to all 23 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The median estimate projects a 10 trillion yen ($111 billion) increase.

National benchmark indexes climbed in 14 of Europe’s 18 western markets. France’s CAC 40 gained 0.5 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.4 percent, while Germany’s DAX increased 0.6 percent. The Swiss Market Index fell 0.4 percent.

Admiral surged 5.3 percent to 1,215 pence as Goldman Sachs raised its recommendation to buy from neutral and added the shares to its “conviction buy” list, citing the stock’s underperformance over the past six months.

Richemont led luxury companies lower, tumbling 5.6 percent to 74.30 Swiss francs for the biggest decline since June 1. The maker of Cartier jewelry said third-quarter revenue rose 9.3 percent to 2.86 billion euros ($3.8 billion), missing the 2.91 billion-euro average of seven analyst estimates, after Asia Pacific sales stagnated.

Sky Deutschland AG declined 5.4 percent to 4.49 euros after the German pay-TV company forecast a wider-than-estimated annual loss and said it will sell 20.4 million new shares at 4.46 euros apiece.

U.S. stocks closed today for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday

Change % Change Last

Nikkei 225 10,747.74 -165.56 -1.52%

Hang Seng 23,590.91 -10.87 -0.05%

S&P/ASX 200 4,777.5 +6.27 +0.13%

Shanghai Composite 2,328.22 +11.15 +0.48%

FTSE 100 6,180.98 +26.57 +0.43%

CAC 40 3,763.03 +21.45 +0.57%

DAX 7,748.86 +46.63 +0.61%

Dow Closed

Nasdaq Closed

S&P Closed