European stocks fluctuated, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index heading for its first annual decline in three years, as German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble ruled out a euro-area breakup. Asian shares increased, while U.S. index futures fell.

At the moment:

FTSE 100 5,550 -16.61 -0.30%

CAC 40 3,125 -2.64 -0.08%

DAX 5,838 -10.79 -0.18%

Health-care stocks, this year’s best-performing industry group, advanced as Elan Corp. climbed. Elan jumped 4.3 percent to 10.90 euros, the highest since July 2008. Actelion Ltd. added 1.2 percent to 32.19 Swiss francs. Health-care stocks climbed 0.4 percent as a group.

Banco Comercial Portugues jumped 6.9 percent to 14 euro cents, heading for the biggest weekly advance since 1998. Chinese banks may be interested in investing in the bank, Lusa said. The news agency cited Cao Guangjing, chairman of China Three Gorges Corp. China’s economic growth is expected to be more than 9 percent this year, the official Xinhua News Agency said in a New Year’s editorial today.