Europe, U.S. Stock Futures Drop; BHP, Total, CRH May Decline

By Sarah Jones

Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- European stock-index futures fell, following declines in U.S. and Asian shares. BHP Billiton Ltd. and Total SA may lead commodity producers lower as oil retreated and base metals declined in Asia.

CRH Plc may drop after the world's second-biggest building materials maker said full-year earnings will retreat more than earlier predicted. Julius Baer Holding AG might decline move after the wealth manager said assets under management fell and its hedge funds businesses recorded net outflows. Vodafone Group Plc may move after the world's largest mobile phone company cut its full-year sales forecast for the second time in four months.

Futures on the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the euro region, lost 57, or 2.3 percent, to 2,567 at 7:32 a.m. in London. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index may open down 65 points, according to CMC Markets, as U.K. home sales tumbled to the lowest in at least three decades, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said.

``Europe is looking slightly weaker,'' said Oliver Stevens, head of dealing at IG Markets in Melbourne. ``It's pick a reason really. Economic data continues to look terrible around the world.''

Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 0.3 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 3 percent.

U.S. stocks fell yesterday amid a worsening outlook for companies from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Google Inc. Asian stocks dropped today after Citizen Holdings Co. cut its profit forecast and Australian business confidence fell to a record low. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 3 percent.

Earnings Scorecard

Earnings for the 1209 companies in western Europe that reported results since Oct. 7 declined 9.7 percent on average, trailing expectations by 4.6 percent, Bloomberg data show.

More than $28 trillion has been erased from the value of global equity markets as credit losses and writedowns totaled $690 billion in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index has declined 39 percent in 2008, headed for its worst year on record.

BHP, the world's largest mining company, retreated 3.7 percent in Sydney as copper declined in Asia on slowing demand concerns. Rio Tinto Group, the third-largest mining company, lost 1.9 percent.

American depositary receipts of Total, Europe's third- largest oil company, fell 0.5 percent from the close in Paris as crude oil slumped as much as 3.4 percent to $60.29 in New York.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the region's biggest oil company, lost 0.5 percent from the London finish.

The International Energy Agency may cut its 2009 oil demand forecast for a third month as the threat of the worst recession since World War II saps fuel consumption, former IEA analysts said.

CRH, Baer

CRH might decline after the Dublin-based company said pretax profit will fall by a percentage in the ``low to mid- teens'' as the U.S. financial crisis spreads to European markets.

Julius Baer may retreat after Switzerland's biggest independent wealth manager said assets under management fell in the year to date as markets eroded the value of portfolios and its hedge funds businesses recorded net outflows.

Vodafone said sales in the 12 months ending March 2009 will be 38.8 billion pounds ($60.8 billion) to 39.7 billion pounds. Vodafone initially forecast 39.8 billion pounds to 40.7 billion pounds, and said in July sales would be ``around the bottom'' of that range after slowing economic growth hurt revenue from phone calls and handsets.

RWE, StatoilHydro

RWE AG shares might move after Germany's second-biggest utility said third-quarter profit rose fivefold to 1.06 billion euros ($1.35 billion) after electricity prices doubled. That beat the 840 million-euro median estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

StatoilHydro ASA might be active after Norway's largest oil and gas producer agreed on a partnership to explore so-called unconventional gas opportunities with Chesapeake Energy Corp.

As part of the agreement, StatoilHydro will buy a 32.5 percent stake in Chesapeake's Marcellus shale gas acreage in the U.S. northeast for $1.25 billion with provisions for another $2.125 billion.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net.