European stocks (SXXP) fell from a five- month high on mounting concern the region’s debt crisis is spreading. U.S. index futures swung between gains and losses, while copper declined. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) slipped 0.3 percent at 10:55 a.m. in London as UniCredit SpA slumped 7.6 percent after Italy’s biggest bank said it will sell shares. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures slid less than 0.1 percent. German 10-year bund yields stayed higher, while Portugal’s two-year note yield remained lower after the governments sold debt. Hungary’s forint weakened to a record against the euro. Copper slid 1.5 percent and gold rose for a fourth day. UniCredit said it will sell new shares in a 7.5 billion- euro ($9.8 billion) offer to strengthen its capital position. The European Central Bank said overnight deposits from financial institutions rose to an all-time high. U.S. factory orders probably rose in November, economists said before a Commerce Department report. “At some point, the perennial European problem will come back to haunt us,� said John Woods, the Hong Kong-based chief Asian strategist at Citigroup Inc.’s private bank, in a Bloomberg Television interview. “The slightest inkling of positivity tends to send the market into a flutter and obviously we’ve had these big rallies over the last couple of days.� UniCredit tumbled to the lowest level since March 2009 as the bank said it will sell shares at 1.943 euros each, offering two for every one held. Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS), the world’s biggest wind-turbine maker, plunged 17 percent after cutting its sales forecast. Disappointing Sales Next Plc sank 3.4 percent, leading a gauge of retailers lower, as the U.K.’s second-largest seller of clothing reported “disappointing� holiday revenue and forecast slack profit growth next year. The decline in S&P 500 futures (SP1) indicated the benchmark gauge for U.S. equities will retreat from a two-month high. Bookings (TMNOCHNG) for U.S. factory goods probably increased 2 percent in November, the most in four months, according to a Bloomberg survey of 57 economists. The yield on Spain’s 10-year bonds rose 11 basis points, sending the difference in yield with bunds six basis points wider. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government may apply for loans from the European Union’s rescue fund and the International Monetary Fund to help restructure the country’s financial industry, Expansion reported, citing unidentified people with knowledge of the matter. Debt Sales The yield on Germany’s 10-year debt rose three basis points to 1.93 percent. The government sold 4.06 billion euros of bonds, after getting bids for 5.14 billion, more than the maximum sales target of 5 billion euros, at an average yield of 1.93 percent. The yield on Portugal’s two-year note dropped 129 basis points. The government sold 1 billion euros of three-month bills at average yield of 4.346 percent, down from 4.873 percent at a previous auction. The euro weakened 0.2 percent against the yen, and depreciated less than 0.1 percent versus the dollar to $1.3047. The yen strengthened against all but two of its 16 most-traded peers. Euro-area banks parked 453.2 billion euros with the Frankfurt-based ECB yesterday, up from 446 billion euros the previous day. That’s the highest since the euro’s introduction in 1999. Banks are depositing excess cash back with the ECB at the overnight rate of 0.25 percent, incurring a loss rather than lending it for more elsewhere. Record Low Hungary’s forint fell to as low as 319.4 against the euro on speculation that a resumption in talks with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union on financial assistance will be delayed. The EU currently has no plans to resume aid talks with Hungary, European Commission spokesman Olivier Bailly said yesterday. The BUX Index (BUX) of stocks tumbled 1.8 percent. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) of Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong lost 1.4 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) fell by the same percentage, in its first day of trading for the year. China’s home prices fell for a fourth month in December and Premier Wen Jiabao said business conditions may be “relatively difficult� this quarter. Benchmark indexes gained more than 1 percent in Thailand and Indonesia. Copper declined to $7,671 a metric ton and gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,607.18 an ounce. Oil in New York fell 0.4 percent to $102.59 a barrel. To contact the reporters on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net; Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stuart Wallace at swallace6@bloomberg.net

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