By Sarah Jones Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- European and Asian stocks declined to the lowest levels in more than a month amid mounting concern that China and the U.S. will accelerate plans to unwind stimulus measures as the economy rebounds. BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group retreated for a sixth consecutive day in London trading as base metals fell. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, Spain’s second-biggest lender, sank 4.6 percent after earnings missed estimates. Man Group Plc, the largest publicly traded hedge company, plunged 4.4 percent after its AHL Diversified Futures Ltd. fund dropped the most in seven weeks. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index lost 1.3 percent to 246.27 at 8:28 a.m. in London, heading for the lowest close since Dec. 11. The measure has fallen 3.1 percent this year as the U.S. called for limits on risk-taking by banks and China moved to restrict lending and cool economic growth. Asian stocks declined for an eighth day today, the longest losing streak since May 2005. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 1.1 percent as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng briefly fell below 20,000. Some Chinese banks were ordered to recall excess loans advanced in January to meet a regulatory requirement that they have “rational and balanced” loan levels, the Securities Times reported today, citing an unidentified person familiar with the situation. A Credit Suisse Group AG index showed swaps traders raised to 73 percent the chance that the Reserve Bank of Australia will increase interest rates by 25 basis points when it meets next week, after consumer prices rose more than forecast by some economists. Rusal Debut United Co. Rusal Ltd., the world’s largest aluminum producer, slumped 11 percent to HK$9.66 in its Hong Kong trading debut as demand for new equity waned after the city’s benchmark index dropped from a November high. U.S. stocks fell in the final hour of trading yesterday as investors speculated that the Federal Reserve may signal more plans to unwind stimulus measures and as Elliott Wave International Chief Executive Officer Robert Prechter said a new bear market may have begun. Prechter, the analyst who predicted the financial-market meltdown that began in 2008, told CNBC he is “seeing signals like the ones we saw” when the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was peaking in 2007 and at the top of the technology bubble in 2000. Futures on the S&P 500 slipped 0.3 percent today as the Fed prepares to issue its statement on interest rates, at about 2:15 p.m. New York time. Fed Decision The Federal Open Market Committee, gathering while Chairman Ben S. Bernanke awaits a Senate vote on whether to confirm him for a second term, is expected to keep the benchmark for short- term interest rates in the zero to 0.25 percent range, where it’s been since December 2008. Investors’ focus has been on how and when the central bank will signal its intention to start raising rates, and to dismantle the programs by which it has financed risky assets for the banking system. Yahoo! Inc., owner of the second-most-used Internet search engine in the U.S., rose 2.9 percent to $16.45 in German trading after reporting fourth-quarter sales that topped analysts’ estimates late yesterday. Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of bulldozers and excavators, Boeing Co. and Abbott Laboratories are among companies due to announce earnings before the start of U.S. trading today. Mining Companies BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company, dropped 1.7 percent to 1,864.5 pence. Rio Tinto, the third-biggest, sank 2.4 percent to 3,109.5 pence. Copper led base metals lower on the London Metal Exchange amid concern demand from China, the largest consumer of copper, will fall. Lead and nickel also retreated. BBVA fell 4.6 percent to 11.48 euros. The Spanish bank said fourth-quarter net income slumped 94 percent to 31 million euros ($44 million) as it wrote down goodwill on its U.S. business and set aside more for bad loans. That missed the 1.05 billion-euro median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of nine analysts as the bank took a 704 million-euro writedown for its U.S. franchise. Man Group slid 4.4 percent to 251.6 pence for a ninth day of declines, the longest losing streak in almost five years. The net asset value of Man AHL Diversified Futures fell 3.6 percent to $34.87 as of Jan. 25, erasing its gains for the year. Tullow Oil Plc dropped 4.9 percent to 1,156 pence after the U.K. explorer announced plans to sell up to 80.4 million new shares through an equity placing, representing about 10 percent of its existing ordinary share capital. The funds will finance further exploration and advance development in Uganda and Ghana, the company said. To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net.

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