BLBG: Stocks in Europe and Asia Advance; U.S. Index Futures Decline
By Adria Cimino
Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks gained in Europe and Asia as results from Credit Agricole SA and Vinci SA beat analysts' estimates, while commodity shares trading near their cheapest on record lured investors. U.S. index futures fell.
Credit Agricole rose 7.5 percent after the bank reported better-than-expected profit, while Vinci, the world's biggest builder, climbed 5.9 percent as sales rose. BP Plc, Europe's second-largest oil company, rose 5.3 percent, and BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's biggest mining company, climbed 6.6 percent.
The MSCI World Index added 1.3 percent to 905.84 at 9:05 a.m. in London, trimming this week's decline to 3.6 percent. Energy and mining stocks were the best performers among the 10 industry groups in the gauge of 23 developed countries.
``There's a return to certain stocks that have suffered,'' said Nathalie Pelras, a fund manager at KBL Richelieu Gestion in Paris, which oversees $5.1 billion. ``Even with this significant rally, valuations are still far lower than they were'' a week ago.
Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index advanced 2.8 percent, and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.8 percent.
Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures lost 1.1 percent before a report that may show sales at U.S. retailers fell in October by the most since the 2001 recession. Nordstrom Inc. and Kohl's Corp. cut their earnings forecasts as profit declined.
U.S. stocks yesterday rallied the most in two weeks, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumping 6 percent in the final hour, as investors snapped up the cheapest energy shares on record. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.8 percent.
``A significant turn around on Wall Street in the latter part of yesterday's session is set to lift spirits in Europe,'' Matthew Buckland, a dealer at CMC Markets in London, wrote.
Financial Crisis
More than $30 trillion has been erased from the value of global equity markets this year as credit losses and writedowns totaled $959 billion in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
Credit Agricole rose 7.5 percent to 10.10 euros. France's third-largest bank by market value, said profit fell 62 percent to 365 million euros in the third quarter. Earnings beat the 153 million-euro median estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Vinci climbed 7.7 percent to 29.77 euros. The world's biggest builder said third-quarter sales rose 10 percent and maintained its full-year growth target after expanding in energy services to counter a slowdown in toll-road revenue. Revenue increased to 8.96 billion euros from 8.14 billion euros a year earlier, the company said. Analysts estimated 8.65 billion euros, according to a Bloomberg survey.
The Stoxx 600 is down 4.8 percent this week as Germany slid into a recession, the OECD forecast a global economic slump and profit outlooks worsened.
Earnings Outlook
Earnings for companies in the Stoxx 600 will fall 8.4 percent this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News as of Nov. 7. That compares with an estimate for 11 percent growth at the start of the year.
A report today will probably show Europe's economy fell into its first recession in 15 years in the third quarter, paving the way for deeper cuts to interest rates and taxes. Gross domestic product in the 15 euro nations shrank 0.2 percent in the third quarter from the previous three months, when it also contracted 0.2 percent, according to the median estimate of 39 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.
The European Union's Luxembourg-based statistics office is scheduled to publish the euro-area GDP data at 11 a.m. today.
Vivendi SA, owner of the world's largest music company, climbed 4.2 percent to 20.825 euros after repeating a forecast of full-year adjusted net income excluding the effect of acquisitions to rise at a pace similar to the 8.3 percent increase of 2007. Third-quarter profit fell 13 percent, missing analysts' estimates, on costs for acquisitions in its phone and video-game divisions.
BP, BHP
BP rose 5.6 percent to 496 pence. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's biggest oil company, gained 4.9 percent to 1,698 pence.
Crude oil climbed 3.7 percent yesterday to $58.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $57.97 today.
BHP added 6.6 percent to 988 pence. Copper jumped by the exchange-imposed daily limit in Shanghai as a drop in the dollar may boost Chinese demand for raw materials. Copper, lead, nickel and tin advanced in London.
Logica Plc jumped 6.3 percent to 29.40 pence. The Anglo Dutch computer-services provider raised its full-year sales forecast for the second time in three months on new orders from British phone company BT Group Plc and Norwegian retailer Reitan Narvesen ASA.
To contact the reporter on this story: Adria Cimino in Paris at acimino1@bloomberg.net.