Stocks rose and the euro strengthened as European leaders prepared to gather for a summit to stem the region’s debt crisis. U.S. index futures were little changed after Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s profit missed analyst estimates for the first time in at least six years. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.8 percent at 7:35 a.m. in New York and the MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 0.7 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures increased less than 0.1 percent after sliding 0.7 percent. Apple dropped 5 percent. Emerging-market stocks rebounded from the steepest loss in two weeks. The euro gained 0.7 percent to $1.3843. Spain’s two-year note yield jumped six basis points after Moody’s Investors Service cut the nation’s credit rating. Copper fell 1.6 percent. Europe’s leaders are set to meet Oct. 23 to discuss ways of increasing the region’s firepower in combating the credit crisis. The Guardian newspaper said yesterday Germany and France agreed to boost the area’s rescue fund, while a person with direct knowledge told Bloomberg News no deal has been reached. “Whatever progress we get out of the euro zone will certainly help add some calm to the market,” Kelvin Tay, the Singapore-based chief investment strategist at UBS Wealth Management, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. Investors will still remain “very wary” about finding a solution to the crisis, he said. ING, Axa Five shares advanced for every one that fell in the Stoxx 600, which snapped a two-day, 1.3 percent drop. ING Groep NV and Axa SA led gains in insurers, climbing more than 4 percent. Software AG surged 11 percent as Germany’s second-largest maker of business software said third-quarter operating profit rose. Nasdaq 100 Index futures fell 0.6 percent as Apple, the maker of the iPhone, retreated in pre-market trading. Intel Corp. advanced 4.2 percent after the world’s biggest chipmaker forecast fourth-quarter sales that exceeded some analysts’ projections, and Morgan Stanley, owner of the world’s largest brokerage, rose 2.8 percent on better-than-estimated earnings. Morgan Stanley and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. are among 27 companies in the index scheduled to report earnings today. Of the 38 S&P 500 members that have released quarterly results since Oct. 11, more than 65 percent have beaten analysts’ profit estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “Earnings season is pointing to an economy that is not weakening,” Jonathan Golub, chief U.S. market strategist at UBS Securities LLC, said today on Bloomberg Radio’s “The First Word” with Ken Prewitt. Euro, Dollar The euro appreciated 0.7 percent versus the yen, rising against all but two of its most-traded peers monitored by Bloomberg. The Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against those of six trading partners, fell 0.7 percent. The pound declined versus most major counterparts after minutes from the Bank of England’s meeting this month showed officials voted unanimously to expand the size of their asset- purchase program. The Spanish five-year bond yield rose almost three basis points, climbing for the seventh day, the longest run of increases since December. Moody’s yesterday reduced its ranking to its fifth-highest investment grade, cutting it by two levels to A1 from Aa2, with the outlook remaining negative. The Greek two-year note yield jumped 96 basis points, increasing for the fourth straight day, with the Irish two-year yield advancing 22 basis points, up for a third day. The yield on the Greek bond maturing in June 2020 rose to more than 25 percent for the first time since Sept. 15. Germany, France The yield on the 10-year German bund rose seven basis points, with the similar-maturity French bond yield nine basis points higher. That drove the difference in yield to a fresh euro-era record of 116 basis points, or 1.16 percentage points. Germany sold 4.075 billion euros ($5.65 billion) of 10-year securities, receiving bids for 4.55 billion euros out of a maximum 5 billion euros on offer. Portugal’s two-year note yield rose four basis points as the government sold 1.5 billion euros of three- and six-month bills. The cost of insuring debt sold by Germany fell, with credit-default swaps tied to Europe’s largest economy declining six basis points to 88, the lowest since Sept. 16. The Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe Index of contracts tied to 15 governments dropped 10 basis points to 324. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 1.2 percent after yesterday’s 1.7 percent slide. Banks led the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Chinese shares traded in Hong Kong 1.2 percent higher as lower money-market rates signaled the nation’s central bank will inject more funds into the financial system. Turkey, South Korea Turkey’s ISE National 100 Index (XU100) rose 0.7 percent. Anadolu Efes Biracilik & Malt Sanayii AS jumped 6.6 percent after SABMiller Plc (SAB) said it will get a 24 percent stake in the Middle East’s biggest brewer in return for its Russian and Ukranian businesses. South Korea’s won strengthened 1.2 percent after the nation agreed to increase a currency-swap accord with Japan to $70 billion. Copper dropped for a third day, leading industrial metals lower. Cocoa climbed to $2,600 a ton after falling yesterday to a two-year low. Oil rose 0.3 percent to $88.60 a barrel in New York. To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Justin Carrigan at jcarrigan@bloomberg.net

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