European Stocks Are Little Changed Before Fed Minutes

European stocks were little changed, following a two-day decline, as investors awaited the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting. U.S. index futures declined, while Asian shares retreated.

Heineken NV (HEIA) dropped 3.5 percent after the world’s third-largest brewer said that profit before some items will not grow in 2013. Vestas Wind Systems A/S jumped 7.4 percent as the Danish wind-turbine maker named a new chief executive officer.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1 percent to 301.9 at 8:25 a.m. in London. The gauge of European equities slid 0.8 percent yesterday, closing at its lowest level since July 31. The index has fallen 2.2 percent since Aug. 14 as speculation mounted that the Fed will start to slow the pace of its quantitative-easing program next month. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.2 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index retreated 0.5 percent.

“The minutes will be very important,” Tim Harris, who helps oversee about $25 billion as head of investments at Lloyds TSB Bank Plc. “Markets have moved on from ‘are they going to taper purchases through the quantitative-easing program?’ to ‘When are they going to taper purchases through the quantitative-easing program?’ and ‘how much is the tapering going to be?’”

Investors will scrutinize the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s July 30-31 meeting for signs of when the Fed will begin to reduce the $85 billion pace of monthly bond purchases. The U.S. central bank will start to scale back bond buying next month, according to 65 percent of economists surveyed by Bloomberg from Aug. 9-13. The median estimate called for purchases to drop to $75 billion a month.

The Fed has said that the U.S. economy must improve in line with its forecasts for tapering to take place. A report at 10 a.m. in Washington will show existing house sales rose to an annualized 5.15 million in July, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.