EU STOCKS decline before German OMT court hearings

European stocks slipped as the Bank of Japan refrained from expanding stimulus and a German court began hearings on the European Central Bank’s bond-buying plan.

Germany’s top court will begin a two-day hearing today to address the ECB’s Outright Monetary Transactions program and the European Stability Mechanism.

The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe is reviewing the OMT, which was introduced last year as concerns peaked that the euro region would break apart, after plaintiffs including a lawmaker allied to Chancellor Angela Merkel brought a case against it. The as-yet-unused OMT foresees potentially unlimited purchases of bonds of debt-stricken countries that sign up to adjustment programs.

Legrand (LR) fell 3.2%. Wendel, France’s biggest publicly traded investment firm, offered the remaining shares it holds at 36 euros apiece. The company said it made a capital gain of about 370 million euros. Wendel lost 2.2%.

ICAP dropped 4.1%, its biggest decline in two months, after Credit Suisse cut the world’s largest broker of transactions between banks to underperform from neutral.

A gauge of European miners was the worst performer, with BHP Billiton Plc and Anglo American Plc sliding 2.2% and 3.1%, respectively.  Fresnillo Plc lost 3%. Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange slid as much as 0.7% to 7,109.85 a metric ton.

Bank of Ireland Plc, the biggest Irish lender by assets, retreated 4.7%. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. yesterday cut its rating on the shares to sell from neutral.

Fonciere des Regions slipped 2% after saying it will spend close to 1 billion euros to lift its stake in Fonciere Developpement Logements to between 58.2% and 62.4% and increase its presence in Germany.

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