SF: European Shares Rebound as Yen Strengthens; Oil,
May 27 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks rose, rebounding from the first weekly loss in a month, and Asian shares fell after Japan’s top central banker suggested interest rates may gain as the economy improves. Oil retreated for a fifth day and South Africa’s rand weakened while the yen and gold climbed.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.2 percent at 12:48 p.m. London time. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures were little changed. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 1.2 percent, led by a 3.4 percent retreat in Japan’s Topix Index. The yen strengthened 0.4 percent to 100.93 per dollar. The rand slid at least 0.2 percent against all of its 16 major peers. Spanish and Italian bonds rose for the first time in three days. Crude sank 0.6 percent in New York, while gold rallied 0.6 percent. Markets are shut in the U.S. and U.K. for a holiday.
Fiat SpA, an Italian automaker, and Vivendi SA, a French media and telecommunications company, led European shares higher. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, speaking yesterday, cited an April BOJ report indicating rates could rise between one and three percentage points in an improving economy without causing instability. Data tomorrow will probably show U.S. consumer confidence improved and home values rose by the most in seven years.
“Some investors think that the correction is over and they are prepared to go back into the market,” Raimund Saxinger, a fund manager at Frankfurt-Trust Investment GmbH, which oversees about $22 billion, said in a telephone interview. “The auto sector is leading the advance with Fiat.”
Fiat, Vivendi
European stocks climbed, following a two-day decline. Fiat gained 3.9 percent after Italy’s industry minister offered to help support the country’s biggest carmaker. Vivendi added 2.4 percent as Qatar Telecom QSC’s Chief Executive Officer, Nasser Marafih, said his company has raised $12 billion to finance its bid for a majority stake in Maroc Telecom. Vivendi owns 53 percent of Maroc Telecom, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
A gauge of technology companies posted the biggest advance of the 19 industry groups on the Stoxx 600 as SAP AG climbed 2.4 percent. The world’s largest maker of business-software systems abandoned talks to buy Jive Software Inc., people familiar with the matter said after the close of European trading on May 24. European equities fell last week as investor confidence was dented by speculation the Federal Reserve will scale back momentary stimulus.
Conference Board
The Conference Board’s index of U.S. consumer sentiment probably climbed to 71 this month from 68.1 in April, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before the New York-based private research group releases the data tomorrow.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index added 0.2 percent following the biggest weekly decline in seven weeks. Benchmark gauges in India, Poland and Taiwan rose at least 0.8 percent, while the Philippine Stock Exchange Index tumbled 2.4 percent, the most since June 4.
The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.2 percent as environmental-protection companies gained. The country won’t sacrifice the environment to ensure short-term economic growth, President Xi Jinping said on May 24. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland stocks listed in Hong Kong rose for the first time in five days, advancing 0.3 percent as a report showed industrial companies’ profits accelerated in April.
Yen Strengthens
The yen extended last week’s 1.9 percent advance against the dollar, the biggest since the five days ended June 1, 2012. Japan’s currency is still down 17 percent in the past six months versus nine developed-nation counterparts tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to stem 15 years of deflation.
Japan’s currency appreciated 0.3 percent to 130.67 per euro, while the dollar traded at $1.2945 per euro. The rand slid 0.4 percent to 9.6175 per dollar as concern growth in South Africa is slowing weighed on the currency.
Spain’s 10-year bond yield fell six basis points to 4.36 percent and the rate on similar-maturity Italian debt dropped five basis points to 4.09 percent. Germany’s 10-year bund yield was little changed at 1.44 percent.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil for July delivery dropped to $93.63 a barrel in New York. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which accounts for about 40 percent of the world’s oil supply, will maintain its output quota of 30 million barrels a day when the group meets May 31 in Vienna, according to 19 of 20 traders and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Gold rose, extending gains after the best week in a month, as International Monetary Fund data showed Russia and Kazakhstan expanded gold reserves for the seventh straight month in April. Gold for immediate delivery rose to $1,395.42 an ounce.
--With assistance from Paul Dobson, Will Hadfield and Stephen Kirkland in London and Jonathan Morgan in Frankfurt, Glenys Sim in Singapore, Richard Frost in Hong Kong and Adam Haigh in Sydney. Editors: Stephen Voss, Stephen Kirkland
To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Voss in London at sev@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Justin Carrigan at jcarrigan@bloomberg.net
