Europe Stocks Rise as Investors Watch U.S. Results

Europe Stocks Rise as Investors Watch U.S. Results
By Namitha Jagadeesh - Apr 9, 2013 3:09 PM GMT+0800

European (SXXP) stocks climbed as Alcoa Inc. began the U.S. earnings season with profit that beat estimates and as Chinese inflation rose less than forecast. U.S. futures were little changed, while Asian shares gained.
BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group, the world’s largest mining companies, each advanced at least 1.9 percent as metal prices rose. Lagardere SCA gained 1.1 percent after saying it will sell its stake in European, Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. for as much as 2.3 billion euros ($3 billion). Repsol SA increased 0.9 percent after saying it discovered natural gas in Algeria.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.5 percent to 289.04 at 8:05 a.m. in London. The gauge yesterday rebounded from the biggest three-day selloff since July as German industrial production beat forecasts. It has gained 3.4 percent so far this year. Contracts on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.1 percent, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.6 percent.
“Debate about whether or not last week’s declines are the start of the long awaited correction or just a minor blip in the current rally seem to have already been concluded and it doesn’t appear to be anything to get too bearish about,” Jonathan Sudaria, a trader at Capital Spreads in London, wrote in a note. “With equities down at levels not seen since February, expectations are that bargain hunters will be out buying the dip.”
Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, late yesterday posted first-quarter earnings excluding an income-tax benefit and other one-time items of 11 cents a share, beating the 8 cent-average analyst forecast.

U.S. Earnings
Earnings at companies in the S&P 500 Index may drop 1.8 percent in the first quarter, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
In China, the consumer price index rose 2.1 percent in March from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said. That compares with the 2.5 percent median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey and a 3.2 percent gain in February.
German exports fell more than economists forecast in February. Exports, adjusted for working days and seasonal changes, dropped 1.5 percent from January, when they gained 1.3 percent, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today. Economists forecast a 0.3 percent decline, according to the median of 15 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Imports fell 3.8 percent.
A report may show U.K. industrial production increased 0.4 percent in February, from a 1.2 percent drop a month earlier, economists forecast in a Bloomberg survey. The Office for National Statistics data is due at 9:30 a.m. in London.

Miners Gain
BHP added 1.9 percent to 1,913.5 pence and Rio Tinto rallied 2.9 percent to 3,077.5 pence. Copper prices rose 1.2 percent in London.
Repsol advanced 0.9 percent to 16.19 euros after spokesman Kristian Rix said the Spanish company encountered a 50-meter column of gas in the Sud-Est Illizi block in Algeria.
Lagardere gained 1.1 percent to 28.82 euros. The Paris- based media company said it is exiting EADS through a stake sale. EADS slid 3.6 percent to 37.30 euros.
Societe Generale SA, Credit Agricole SA and Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch unit are offering 61.1 million EADS shares for Lagardere’s holding unit Sogeade in a price range between 37.35 euros and 37.95 euros apiece, according to a term sheet obtained by Bloomberg News. The stake is valued at 2.3 billion euros at the high end of the range.
ICAP Plc lost 2.8 percent to 284.4 pence in London. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued subpoenas to ICAP brokers and as many as 15 Wall Street banks as part of an investigation into possible price manipulation of benchmark interest-rate swaps, people familiar with the matter said late yesterday. The world’s largest interbank broker said today that it’s cooperating with the CFTC and investigating the allegations.
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