(Bloomberg) -- European stocks closed little changed, halting a four-day losing streak, as gains in lenders were tempered by losses in energy and mining shares.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.2 percent at the close. Banks advanced, boosted by rising bond yields across the euro area and stronger-than-forecast U.S. private jobs data. Deutsche Bank AG climbed, snapping a four-day drop. Oil fell to a one-month low after government data showed U.S. crude stockpiles climbed to a record last week, weighing on energy-related stocks.
- The Stoxx 600 has lost steam after reaching a 15-month high last week on surging bets for a Federal Reserve interest-rate increase. Futures traders are betting it's a virtual certainty that officials will raise rates at next week's meeting.
- Personal and household goods shares rose today, with Adidas AG jumping 9.4 percent after raising its sales and earnings forecasts through 2020.
- Electricite de France was the worst performer among Stoxx 600 firms, dropping 7.9 percent after the French government sold a portion of its rights to participate in a 4 billion-euro ($4.2 billion) share sale at a discount.
- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed little changed, with the country's shares barely moving as the government unveiled its spring budget.
- At the European Central Bank's meeting on Thursday, no major changes to policy are expected, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Respondents predict the central bank will announce a change to quantitative easing in September.
--With assistance from Elena Popina
To contact the reporters on this story: Aleksandra Gjorgievska in London at agjorgievska@bloomberg.net, Charlotte Ryan in London at cryan147@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net, Namitha Jagadeesh, Todd White
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