European stock-index futures and Asian shares advanced on optimism the worst of the global recession has passed. U.S. futures fell after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained the most in more than three weeks yesterday. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, rose for a second day in Sydney after copper and crude oil rallied. UBS AG, Switzerland’s largest bank by assets, will probably move after posting a narrower first-quarter loss. Futures on the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the euro region, added 0.4 percent to 2,386 at 7:22 a.m. in London. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is set to open 76 points higher, according to CMC Markets. “With the U.K. market closed yesterday, it’s a case of having to play catch up” Matt Buckland, a senior trader at spread-betting firm CMC Markets in London wrote in a note to clients. “Oil touched a five month high so this will serve as a boost to the petrochemicals sector.” The MSCI AC Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index rose 0.4 percent. Markets in Japan, South Korea and Thailand are closed today. Futures on the S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent. The benchmark index for U.S. equities yesterday surged 3.4 percent, erasing its 2009 loss, after home sales data beat estimates and manufacturing in China increased for the first time in nine months. $1 Trillion Europe’s Stoxx 600 has advanced 29 percent since March 9 as investors speculated that U.S. government’s plan to finance the purchase of as much as $1 trillion in illiquid assets from banks will help to pull the global economy out of its first recession since World War II. April’s record 13 percent rally sent the Stoxx 600 to 16.2 times its companies’ earnings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Equities may rise more as investors who missed out on the last two months’ gains spend money on stocks, said Anders Lorentzen, a fund manager at DiBa Bank A/S in Naestved, Denmark. BHP Billiton gained 1.9 percent to A$34.46. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third-biggest mining company, climbed 5.3 percent to A$70.85. Copper climbed to a two-week high in London amid optimism demand will improve as global growth recovers. Lead, nickel and tin also advanced on the London Metal Exchange. Crude oil was little changed after climbing to a five-month high yesterday. UBS reported a first-quarter net loss of 1.98 billion Swiss francs ($1.75 billion), compared with a restated 11.6 billion- franc deficit in the year-earlier period, after writing down the value of hard-to-trade holdings. The bank estimated its loss at almost 2 billion francs on April 15. Alcatel, Metro Alcatel-Lucent SA, the world’s largest maker of fixed-line networks, said its first-quarter net loss widened to 402 million euros ($538 million) from 181 million euros a year earlier as the global economic slump eroded demand for telecommunications equipment. Metro AG, Germany’s biggest retailer, reported a wider first-quarter loss as slumping consumer spending and weakening eastern European currencies hurt sales. Infineon Technologies AG may rise. Europe’s second-largest maker of semiconductors was raised to “overweight” from “underweight” at JPMorgan Chase & Co., which said “there is now a great possibility of Infineon being able to issue a convertible bond.” Swiss Reinsurance Co., the world’s second-biggest reinsurer, was cut to “sell” from “neutral” at UBS, which said “we fear progress on toxic exposures and the earnings outlook is pedestrian.”

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