European Stocks Rise Before Start of U.S. Earnings Season

by **Cals** Mon 08 Jul 2013, 16:48

European Stocks Rise Before Start of U.S. Earnings Season
By Corinne Gretler - Jul 8, 2013 3:29 PM GMT+0800

European stocks rose, following two weeks of gains for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, as investors waited for Alcoa Inc. (AA) to kick off the U.S. earnings season and for euro-area finance ministers to meet in Brussels. U.S. index futures were little changed, while Asian shares fell.
Novartis AG (NOVN) climbed 1.3 percent after saying a psoriasis treatment met all its primary and secondary endpoints in a phase-three study. Bovis Homes Group Plc jumped 3.7 percent as the company said that its housing gross margin in the first half probably climbed from a year earlier.
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July 8 (Bloomberg) -- John Meyer, an analyst at SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP, discusses Alcoa Inc., the aluminum producer which kicks off the U.S. earnings season today. He talks with Francine Lacqua on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move." (Source: Bloomberg)
The Stoxx 600 increased 0.9 percent to 291.01 at 8:27 a.m. in London. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.2 percent. The equity benchmark rose 1 percent on July 5 after better-than-forecast labor data. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 1.5 percent today.
“It looks as though Europe will open on a constructive footing,”Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG Markets in Melbourne, wrote in an e-mail. “Europe will focus on Mario Draghi’s quarterly hearing of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, while European finance ministers meet to discuss all things Portugal, Cyprus and Greece, with the latter looking less concerning after the Greek Finance Minister, Yannis Stournaras, said the government will reach a deal with creditors in the short term.”
Euro-area finance ministers discuss Greece’s progress in meeting the conditions needed to obtain further aid from the so-called troika of the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission. Stournaras said the Greek government will probably reach a deal with international creditors before today’s Eurogroup meeting.
Finance Ministers
Approval of an agreement at the meeting of euro-area finance ministers in Brussels would allow Greece, which has been unable to tap bond markets since 2010, to obtain a loan of 8.1 billion euros ($10.4 billion).
ECB President Mario Draghi speaks at the quarterly hearing of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament at 3 p.m. in Brussels.
In Germany, a report at 12 p.m. Frankfurt time may show that industrial production declined 0.5 percent in May, according to the median forecast of 38 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. It surged 1.8 percent in April.
Alcoa Inc. will unofficially start the second-quarter U.S. earnings season after the market closes today, when the biggest U.S. aluminum producer becomes the first company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) to report results.
Bovis Homes advanced 3.7 percent after the U.K. housebuilder said it will probably report a housing gross margin of about 23 percent, compared with 20.9 percent a year earlier. The company said that increased volume and higher margins will lead to a bigger profit.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc surged 6.1 percent to 1,055 pence after the company raised its full-year revenue forecast, saying group revenue will grow by about 17 percent in 2013. That compares with a previous forecast of about 13 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Corinne Gretler in Zurich at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]