BLBG:Stocks, U.S. Futures Rise, Euro Rebounds After Summit; Italian Bonds Drop
European stocks and U.S. index futures gained while the euro rebounded after the region’s leaders boosted a rescue fund and tightened budget rules to stem the debt crisis. Italian 10-year bonds fell and the cost of insuring against default increased for a third day.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.3 percent at 10:30 a.m. in London, having earlier retreated as much as 0.9 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures climbed 0.5 percent, and the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index slid 2.1 percent. The euro rose 0.2 percent to $1.3367, after weakening 0.4 percent. The 10-year Italian bond yield added 12 basis points to 6.58 percent. The Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe Index of credit-default swaps on 15 governments increased eight basis points to 370, the highest since Nov. 28.
Leaders holding all-night talks in Brussels added 200 billion euros ($267 billion) to their crisis-fighting warchest and tightened anti-deficit rules, an accord hailed by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi as a “very good outcome.” U.S. consumer confidence probably improved this month, economists said before a report today. Data earlier signaled weakening growth in China, Japan and South Korea.
“I don’t think there’s much of a disappointment in the summit that we’ve seen overnight,” said Otto Waser, chief investment officer at Research & Asset Management AG, told Bloomberg Television from Zurich. “We’re 20 percent where we should be towards fiscal union to rescue the euro.”
Insurers Advance
Two stocks (MXWD) gained for every one that declined in the Stoxx 600. ING Groep NV led insurers higher, advancing 1.7 percent. Alcatel-Lucent SA, France’s largest telecommunications-equipment supplier, climbed 4.8 percent as Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. upgraded the shares.
The increase in U.S. futures indicated the S&P 500 will pare this week’s 0.8 percent decline. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment probably rose to 65.8 in December from 64.1 in November, the highest level since June, according to the median of 73 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.
Italian two-year notes erased their declines, with the yield falling seven basis points, as the ECB bought the nation’s debt, according to three people with knowledge of the trades, who declined to be identified because the transactions are confidential. The yield earlier jumped as much as 40 basis points. A spokesman at the ECB in Frankfurt declined to comment.
Belgian 10-year yields advanced six basis points, with Spanish yields five basis points higher. German bunds reversed gains, sending the yield up two basis points to 2.05 percent after it earlier fell to 1.98 percent.
Rising Inventories
The S&P GSCI gauge of 24 commodities declined 0.1 percent, a third consecutive drop. Wheat fell 0.3 percent before a U.S. Department of Agriculture report that may show an increase in global stockpiles. Oil in New York retreated 0.3 percent to $98.05 a barrel and gold rose 0.2 percent.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index (MXEF) slipped 2 percent, headed for the steepest loss since Nov. 23. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) sank 3.2 percent in Hong Kong. Russia’s Micex Index (INDEXCF) declined 3.5 percent and South Korea’s Kospi Index (KOSPI) slumped 2 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net; Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Justin Carrigan at jcarrigan@bloomberg.net
