BLBG: U.S. Futures, Stocks Gain as Commodities Rebound
U.S. stock-index futures and European shares rose while commodities snapped a three-day decline on signs a slump in China’s factory output is easing and speculation America’s housing market is improving.
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.3 percent at 7:10 a.m. in New York. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.4 percent, led by technology and energy shares. The S&P GSCI gauge of 24 raw materials increased 0.2 percent and gasoline rose for the first time in 10 days. The euro depreciated 0.4 percent to $1.2936 after German manufacturing and business confidence missed estimates.
Purchases of new homes in the U.S. probably rose in September to the highest level in more than two years, economists said before a Commerce Department report today. A survey signaling a smaller contraction in China’s manufacturing boosted confidence the world’s second-biggest economy is stabilizing.
“The Chinese data was helpful,” Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Plc in London, wrote in an e- mail. “Futures are pointing marginally higher after a few days of profit-taking from investors.”
The gain in U.S. futures indicated the S&P 500 will rebound after closing yesterday at the lowest level since Sept. 5. Facebook Inc. (FB), the biggest social networking website, surged 11 percent in German trading after reporting sales that topped analysts’ estimates, allaying concerns over its ability to make money from mobile ads.
Home Sales
Purchases of new homes in the U.S. climbed 3.2 percent to a 385,000 annual pace in September, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 75 economists. The Commerce Department will release the sales data at 10 a.m. in Washington.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and his colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee conclude a two-day meeting in Washington today and release a statement on policy, including their current plan to buy $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities each month for an indefinite period.
Three shares advanced for every two that declined in the Stoxx 600. SAP AG rallied 4.2 percent after the biggest maker of business-management software reported third-quarter software license revenue that beat analyst estimates and boosted a sales forecast. Volvo AB fell 3.9 percent after the truckmaker’s third-quarter profit missed analyst estimates.
Gasoline futures rebounded from the longest losing streak in 25 years, rising 0.7 percent to $2.6240 a gallon. The average nationwide price for regular gasoline at the pump declined 2.3 cents to $3.625 a gallon yesterday, the lowest since Aug. 5, according to AAA, the largest U.S. motoring organization.
Business Sentiment
The euro declined against all but two of its major counterparts, slipping 0.5 percent versus the yen. The Ifo institute in Munich said its business climate index, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, dropped to 100.0 this month from 101.4 in September. Economists had predicted an increase to 101.6, according to a Bloomberg survey.
Euro-area services and manufacturing output contracted more than economists forecast in October. A composite index based on a survey of purchasing managers fell to 45.8 from 46.1 in September, London-based Markit Economics said. Economists had forecast a reading of 46.5, the median of 18 estimates in a Bloomberg survey showed. A level below 50 indicates contraction.
Europe Risks
“The weak data today highlighted the risk that the crisis could deteriorate further,” said Matteo Regesta, a senior interest-rate strategist at BNP Paribas SA in London. “Germany, which is a locomotive of growth in the euro region, is slowing and that is not good news for peripheral bonds. It needs growth to get out of the problem.”
The yield on Germany’s 10-year bund fell one basis point to 1.56 percent. The government sold 3.33 billion euros (4.3 billion) of debt due September 2022 after receiving 5.06 billion euros of bids, compared with a maximum 4 billion-euro target.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority sold the city’s currency for the second day in a week yesterday to halt appreciation and maintain a 29-year-old peg to the U.S. dollar. The currency was at HK$7.7502 versus the greenback, near the top end of its allowed trading range of HK$7.75 to HK$7.85, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index (MXEF) dropped 0.3 percent, with gauges in South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines falling at least 0.6 percent. Russia’s Micex Index added 0.3 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained less than 0.1 percent. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of companies listed in Hong Kong and Hungary’s BUX Index fell at least 1 percent as trading resumed after holidays.
To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net; Jason Clenfield in Tokyo at jclenfield@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stuart Wallace at Swallace6@bloomberg.net
