European stocks fell, erasing earlier gains, as insurers and mining companies retreated.

The Stoxx 600 dropped 0.2 percent to 257.24 at 12:10 p.m. in London. The benchmark measure is headed for a gain of 0.5 percent this week and has advanced 5.2 percent so far this year.

The Stoxx 600 rose 1.1 percent yesterday, extending the gauge’s rally from its Sept. 22 low to 20 percent. When an index gains 20 percent from its most-recent low, analysts say it has entered a bull market. European equities have climbed since September amid reports that indicated the U.S. economy is recovering and speculation that the euro area will contain its sovereign-debt crisis.

In the U.S., a report at 8:30 a.m. in Washington may show the world’s largest economy expanded in the fourth quarter at the fastest pace in 2011 as consumer spending picked up and companies rebuilt stockpiles, economists said.

Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, grew at a 3 percent annual pace after advancing 1.8 percent in the third quarter, according to the median forecast of 79 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Household purchases, which account for about 70 percent of the economy, may have climbed 2.4 percent, the survey showed.

A separate report at 9:55 a.m. New York time may confirm that consumer sentiment was the strongest in eight months in January, bolstered by job gains. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of confidence for the month climbed to 74 from 69.9 at the end of December, according to a survey of 62 economists by Bloomberg News.

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(Blomberg)