European stocks were little changed, paring earlier gains, amid investor expectations the European Central Bank will announce a plan for quantitative easing this week. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.1 percent to 352.77 at 10:51 a.m. in London, after earlier increasing as much as 0.5 percent. Stocks climbed to a 7-year high on Friday as rising oil producers outweighed a slump in Swiss shares. Switzerland’s SMI Index rebounded 3.4 percent today after posting its worst week since 2008 following the Swiss National Bank’s surprise move to end a cap on the franc. “Most people are happy to keep their positions square for the moment until we can get some direction from the ECB on Thursday,� said Justin Urquhart Stewart, who helps oversee about $10 billion at Seven Investment Management LLP in London. “With the volatility that came in last week, investors are reluctant to put more risk on the table. The question is what sort of QE are we going to get? What will be the scale, and will it actually work?� Shouldn't the ECB Buy Bonds, Too? Mario Draghi will make his biggest push yet to steer the euro area away from deflation by announcing quantitative easing on Jan. 22, according to 93 percent of respondents in a Bloomberg News survey. The ECB president will probably announce a 550 billion-euro ($639 billion) bond purchase program, economists say. That would top the 500 billion euros in models presented to officials this month. U.S. stocks markets are closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Asian shares gained, even as China’s Shanghai Composite Index lost the most since 2008, after three of the nation’s biggest brokerages were stopped from adding margin-trading accounts. Italian Banks Italian cooperative banks advanced after Il Sole 24 Ore reported that the government is considering measures that would force them to become joint-stock companies. Banco Popolare SC (BP), Italy’s fourth-largest lender, rose 7.1 percent, Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl jumped 10 percent, and Banca Popolare dell’Emilia Romagna SC climbed 12 percent. Schindler Holdings AG added 3.2 percent after raising its profit estimate for 2014 to about 900 million francs ($1.04 billion) from as much as 865 million francs previously. Telefonica SA rose 2.1 percent. Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (13) is exploring a purchase of the Spanish company’s wireless unit O2 in the U.K. as billionaire Li Ka-shing’s company weighs expansion in Europe, according to people familiar with the matter. A measure of energy stocks fell, led by Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA. Oil slid after capping its first weekly gain in two months, as investors weigh rising OPEC output against speculation supply from outside the group will slow. To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Soughley in Frankfurt at asoughley@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecile Vannucci at cvannucci1@bloomberg.net Alan Soughley, Trista Kelley

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