European stocks dropped for a 2^nd day following Novartis AG (NOVN) and Ericsson AB and released their earnings, which missed estimates of analysts. U.S. index futures declined whilst Asian stocks soared up.

Novartis, which is the leading drug maker of Europe by sales, fell by 3.6%. Ericsson, which is the biggest manufacturer of wireless networks in the world, retreated by 13% after posting 4^th quarter net income that missed forecasts of analysts. ARM Holdings Plc (ARM) added up 3.5% following Apple Inc. (AAPL) released its quarterly profit that doubled.

EPS for companies in the Stoxx 600, most likely went up by 12% on an average in 2011, as per over 12,000 forecasts of analyst accumulated by Bloomberg. They may increase by 7% in 2012, as shown in the forecasts.

The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined by 0.6% to settle at 254.46 as of 10:32 a.m. in London’s time. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in March dropped by 0.2%, whereas the MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) shot up by 0.7% as Apple reported that the company sold out 37mn iPhones in the previous quarter.

Roche Holding AG (ROG) declined by 2% to 161.30 francs, after gifting nearly $5.7bn in hard cash for Illumina Inc. to boost up the company’s cancer-drug sales. Lonza Group AG (LONN) fell by 11% to 54.75 francs, which record its biggest drop in over 2 years, after the company said it is looking for a successor to CEO, Stefan Borgas, and posting a 46% fall in profit last year.