European stocks were little changed this afternoon as Glencore International's talks to buy Xstrata boosted mining companies.

This helped to offset declines at Royal Dutch Shell and Unilever. US index futures were little changed, while Asian shares rose. Xstrata jumped 10 per cent after confirming that Glencore made an approach about an offer for the coal, copper and nickel miner.

Royal Dutch Shell and BP, Europe's two biggest oil companies, fell more than 1 per cent. Unilever dropped 4 per cent as the world's second-largest consumer-goods maker posted revenue growth that missed analysts' estimates.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.1 per cent to 259.82 at lunchtime in London, paring an earlier gain of as much as 0.4 per cent.

Futures contracts on the Standard and Poor's 500 Index expiring in March advanced less than 0.1 per cent today.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 1.2 per cent. "You have a lot of liquidity and strong companies with strong cash flows thinking valuations are strong right now," said Virginie Maisonneuve, head of global equities at Schroder Investment Management, which oversees $284 billion.

"We could see a wave of mergers and acquisitions, but it has to be at the right valuation. It has to be a marriage that makes sense. The good deals will go through."

Bloomberg