European stocks rose and the euro strengthened as results from BP Plc and Deutsche Bank AG beat analyst estimates. U.S. equity-index futures swung between gains and losses after Hurricane Sandy shut equity trading for the longest weather-related interruption since 1888.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.7 percent at 11:30 a.m. in London. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures slipped less than 0.1 percent from the Oct. 26 close, after tumbling as much as 1 percent earlier today. The euro appreciated 0.4 percent to $1.2950. The yen rallied after the Bank of Japan (8301)’s second round of stimulus disappointed some investors. Italy’s 10-year bonds stayed higher after a debt sale. Copper jumped 0.9 percent.
BP, Europe’s second-biggest oil company, raised its dividend after earnings topped forecasts, and Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest lender, said profit unexpectedly rose as investment-banking revenue exceeded targets. U.S. stock trading was canceled for a second day, joining bond markets, as the Atlantic Ocean’s biggest-ever tropical storm headed inland.
“Once again, we’re seeing good resilience of European companies,” Jacques Porta, who helps oversee $627 million as a fund manager at Ofi Patrimoine in Paris, said in an interview. “Expectations were so negative that there haven’t been many bad surprises.”
UBS Target
The Stoxx 600 (SXXP) climbed for the fourth time in five days as more than four shares rose for every one that fell. BP gained 4.7 percent, the biggest jump in almost five months, and Deutsche Bank gained 4 percent. UBS AG (UBSN), Switzerland’s biggest bank, rallied 5 percent after raising a profitability goal.
Danske Bank A/S fell 6.6 percent after unveiling plans to sell new shares. Swedish Match AB sank 8.4 percent as the snuff maker posted income that trailed estimates.
The number of shares changing hands in Stoxx 600 companies was 28 percent less than the 30-day average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
A benchmark gauge of European corporate credit risk snapped eight days of increases. The Markit iTraxx Crossover index of credit-default swaps linked to 50 mostly junk-rated European companies fell 9.5 basis points to 535 basis points, the first decline since Oct. 17.
Apple Inc. slipped 0.7 percent in German trading from the Oct. 26 close as the maker of the iPhone said mobile software head Scott Forstall and retail chief John Browett will leave.
A report at 9 a.m. New York time may show U.S. home prices climbed in August. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities increased 1.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the median forecast of 25 economists in a Bloomberg survey.
Battery Park
Treasury futures erased an advance, leaving the 10-year contract expiring in December at 132 25/32, after it earlier rose to 133 2/32, the highest level since Oct. 16.
Hurricane Sandy, spanning 900 miles, slammed into southern New Jersey at 8 p.m. local time and brought a record storm surge into Manhattan’s Battery Park. U.S. airlines have grounded about 12,500 flights.
“It was a case of pricing in the worst and we don’t seem to have seen the extremes of what could have occurred in the last 24 hours, so markets have just taken a little bit of that negativity off the table,” Jeremy Stretch, head of foreign- exchange strategy at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in London, said in an interview.
Italy’s 10-year bond yield fell four basis points to 4.97 percent after rising 17 basis points in the past three days. The rate on similar-maturity Spanish securities dropped two basis points to 5.64 percent.
Debt Auction
Italy sold 4 billion euros ($5.2 billion) of new 3.5 percent five-year notes and as 3 billion euros of 10-year bonds at an auction today, meeting its maximum target. A report today showed German unemployment climbed twice as much as economists forecast in October.
The yen strengthened 0.5 percent to 79.44 per dollar and gained 0.3 percent to 102.65 per euro. The Bank of Japan raised its asset-purchase fund, its main policy tool, by 11 trillion yen ($138 billion) to 66 trillion yen.
Copper gained after China, the world’s largest buyer of industrial metals, pumped a record 395 billion yuan ($63 billion) into the financial system by offering reverse repurchase agreements, according to a trader who participates in the auctions. Oil rose 0.5 percent to $85.98 a barrel.
Emerging Markets
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index (MXEF) gained 0.2 percent. Russia’s Micex Index gained 0.4 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) added 0.2 percent. South Korea’s Kospi index advanced 0.4 percent as the country’s current-account surplus widened to the second biggest on record in September. Taiwan’s Taiex Index jumped 1.3 percent, snapping a seven-day slide, its longest slump since May 2010. India’s Sensex index lost 0.9 percent as the central bank kept interest rates unchanged.
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
