European Stocks Decline From Five-Year High Before Data

European stocks declined from their highest level in almost five years before a report that may show U.S. retail sales fell in April for a second month. U.S. index futures declined, while Asian shares rose.

Commerzbank AG fell 4.5 percent after Handelsblatt reported the lender will sell new shares this week. Standard Chartered Plc dropped 4.4 percent as Carson Block, the short seller who runs Muddy Waters LLC, said he's betting against the bank's debt. Lonmin Plc rose 5.6 percent after returning to profit in its first half through March.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 0.3 percent to 304.18 at 9:13 a.m. in London, snapping four days of gains. The gauge advanced 1.3 percent last week as companies from BT Group Plc to Hochtief AG posted better-than-expected earnings and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said policy makers are ready to cut interest rates if needed.

"U.S. retail sales are today's focal point and could quickly reverse things," Witold Bahrke, who helps oversee $55 billion as senior strategist at PFA Pension A/S in Copenhagen, said in a message. "Longer term, the liquidity theme is of course still alive, but record highs in some equity markets means increasing vulnerability."

A report in the U.S. today may show retail sales fell in April for a second consecutive month. The 0.3 percent drop last month would follow a 0.4 percent decline in March, according to the median forecast of 74 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (SPX) dropped 0.3 percent after the U.S. benchmark gauge climbed 1.2 percent last week. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.3 percent.

Eurogroup Meeting

European finance ministers will meet in Brussels at 3 p.m. to review programs for Cyprus and Spain and may sign off on aid payments to Greece.

A report on May 15 may show that the euro region is suffering the longest recession since the single currency's creation. Gross domestic product in the 17-nation economy fell 0.1 percent in the first three months of 2013, a sixth straight quarterly decline, according to the median of 39 economists' forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. That would exceed the 15-month long contraction in 2008-2009.

At a May 10-11 meeting in London, Group of Seven finance chiefs indicated they will tolerate the decline of Japanese yen and monitor the its impact on currencies. Draghi said the ECB is considering buying asset-backed securities among possible options to support lending to small and medium-sized companies.

Chinese Industry

In China, industrial output in April rose 9.3 percent from a year earlier and retail sales gained 12.8 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said today.

The gain in industrial output compared with the 9.4 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 38 analysts and an 8.9 percent increase in March. Retail sales matched the median projection and compared with a 12.6 percent increase the previous month.

Commerzbank AG slid 4.5 percent to 9.97 euros. Germany's second-largest bank will sell new shares a part of a 2.5 billion-euro ($3.3 billion) capital increase, Handelsblatt said, citing unidentified people in the finance industry.

Standard Chartered, the U.K. lender that earns most of its profit in Asia, slipped 4.4 percent to 1,514 pence as Block said he's betting against the lender's debt because of "deteriorating" loan quality.

'Red Flags'

"We think the market misunderstands the amount of risk that's presently in the book," Block said at a conference in Las Vegas on May 10. A $1 billion loan to Samin Tan, chairman of Bumi Plc, the coal company at the center of a dispute between co-founders Nathaniel Rothschild and Indonesia's Bakrie family, and loans to Far East Energy Corp. were "red flags," he said.

Julie Gibson, a spokeswoman for Standard Chartered in New York, declined to comment on May 10. Doris Fan, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman at the lender, also declined to comment.

Lonmin jumped 5.6 percent to 294.4 pence. The third-largest platinum producer returned to profit in its first half through March from a year earlier. The profit of 13.3 cents a share compared with a loss of 6.3 cents in the year-earlier period. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of five analysts was for a loss of 4 cents.

Antofagasta Plc gained 2.4 percent to 934.5 pence as copper prices rose.

Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS) advanced 5.7 percent to 63.24 kroner, its highest price since March 2012. Credit Suisse Group AG raised the world's biggest wind-turbine maker to neutral from underperform, citing benefits from cost cuts.