Three stocks dropped for every two that gained in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, which was little changed as of 8:09 a.m. in London. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures slid 0.1 percent. Australia’s dollar lost 0.2 percent and the euro headed for a weekly drop against all of its 16 major peers. Copper fell 0.1 percent after earlier climbing as much as 0.6 percent. Palladium touched a four-month high.
Finance ministers of the AAA rated countries using the euro -- Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Finland -- are set to meet today in Berlin. Monthly U.S. payrolls data due for release today may show employment grew by 140,000 in January after rising 200,000 in December, while the jobless rate held at an almost three-year low of 8.5 percent, according to Bloomberg News surveys of economists.
