BLBG: European Stock-Index Futures Advance; Stagecoach, BHP Billiton May Move
European stock-index futures advanced, indicating the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index may snap a three-day losing streak. U.S. futures gained, while Asian shares declined.
Stagecoach Group Plc may rise after Deutsche Bank AG advised buying the shares. HMV Group Plc, the U.K. music and video retailer, may climb after Morgan Stanley lifted its recommendation on the stock. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, slid in Asia as metals prices dropped.
Futures on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the euro region, advanced 0.3 percent at 7:23 a.m. in London. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index may open 16 points higher, according to Cantor Index.
The Stoxx 600 is heading for a 2.2 percent loss this week after four straight weeks of gains. The index has declined 8.2 percent from this year’s high on April 15 amid concern that Europe’s debt crisis may derail the economic recovery.
“We may find a small bounce at the open for the major Europe exchanges given the selloff we saw yesterday, but this certainly has the potential to be somewhat short lived given the extent of the retracement we’ve seen elsewhere,” Ben Potter, a market strategist at IG Markets in Melbourne, wrote in a note.
U.S. stocks fell yesterday, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its longest losing streak in seven weeks, as banks dropped on concern over financial regulation and after the cost to protect from a Greek default surged to a record.
U.S. Futures
Futures on the S&P 500 added 0.1 percent today before a report on consumer confidence. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 1.5 percent as disappointing earnings forecasts at U.S. companies fueled concerns about growth in the world’s largest economy.
Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, reported sales that trailed analysts’ estimates late yesterday after its latest models failed to keep consumers from snapping up Apple Inc.’s iPhone.
Stagecoach may advance. The operator of the U.K.’s busiest commuter-rail service was raised to “buy” from “hold” at Deutsche Bank.
HMV was upgraded to “equal weight” from “underweight” at Morgan Stanley.
BHP lost 2.1 percent in Sydney trading, while Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third-largest mining company, fell 2.7 percent. Copper, lead and nickel were among metals declining in London.
Sanofi, BP
Sanofi-Aventis SA may move. France’s biggest drugmaker agreed to pay closely held Metabolex Inc. as much as $375 million for rights to an experimental diabetes treatment.
BP Plc may be active after saying the cost to date of the response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has reached about $2.35 billion.
Daimler AG, the world’s second-biggest luxury carmaker, and Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest automaker, were cut to “neutral” from “buy” at UBS AG.
A report in the U.S. today may show gains in Americans’ confidence. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment rose to 75.5 this month, the highest level since January 2008, from 73.6 in May, according to the survey median. The reading would match the preliminary estimate issued earlier this month.
To contact the reporter on this story: Adria Cimino in Paris at acimino1@bloomberg.net.