By David Merritt May 12 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks rose to the highest level in more than a week as earnings from A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S to ING Groep NV topped estimates and Germany’s economy unexpectedly expanded. Greek bonds rallied for a third day. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 1 percent at 12:18 a.m. in London as all of its 19 industry groups gained. Maersk, the owner of the world’s largest container-shipping line, surged 8.1 percent in Copenhagen. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.3 percent. Greek two-year notes rose following the near $1 trillion bailout announced by the European Union over the weekend. Gold advanced to a record. About 65 percent of the companies in the MSCI World Index that reported quarterly earnings since April 12 beat analysts’ projections, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Europe’s economy expanded at a faster pace than forecast in the first quarter, the EU’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. Gold advanced as concern lingered that Europe’s most indebted countries will struggle to reduce their deficits. “We have been in the sweet spot of the earnings cycle,” Leon Cornelissen, a Robeco Groep NV analyst in Rotterdam wrote in a report today. “The world economy is showing surprising strength, but general monetary tightening in emerging markets and increasing worries about the sustainability of government debt policies” are damping risk appetite, he wrote. Maersk Rises The MSCI World advanced 0.4 percent. Maersk rose the most in more than a year after saying it returned to profit as freight rates jumped and global trade picked up. ING, the largest Dutch financial services company, rallied 4.7 percent in Amsterdam after reporting a better-than-estimated profit as bad loans fell. Deutsche Telekom AG, Europe’s biggest phone company, rose 3.1 in Frankfurt after earnings topped forecasts. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index was little changed as the Bank of England said risks to the economic recovery have increased amid Europe’s sovereign debt crisis as Conservative leader David Cameron takes over as prime minister. Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc slumped 4 percent while Barclays Plc fell 2.1 percent. The gain in U.S. futures indicated the S&P 500 may pare yesterday’s 0.3 percent decline. Morgan Stanley fell 1.8 percent in German trading, after the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. federal prosecutors are investigating some of the bank’s transactions in so-called collateralized debt obligations, citing people familiar with the matter. Chief Executive Officer James Gorman, speaking at a press conference in Tokyo today, said there is “no substance” to any allegations. Blackstone Group LP declined 2.5 percent as the world’s biggest private equity company, Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and TPG Capital are in talks to pay more than $15 billion including debt for Fidelity National Information Services Inc. Trade Deficit The number of mortgage applications in the U.S. rose last week, led by a rebound in refinancing as long-term borrowing costs dropped below 5 percent for the first time in two months. The trade deficit in the U.S. probably widened in March to the highest level in two years as the cost of imported oil climbed and companies restocked shelves with goods bought abroad, economists said before a report from the Commerce Department due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington today. The MSCI Asia Pacific slipped 0.1 percent. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., which holds about 20 percent of Morgan Stanley, sank 2.4 percent in Tokyo. China Resources Land Ltd., a property developer, lost 4.4 percent in Hong Kong. Posco, South Korea’s largest steelmaker, declined 2.5 percent. The yen weakened against all of its 16 most-traded counterparts, dropping 0.5 percent against the dollar, amid demand for high-yielding currencies. The euro was little changed versus the dollar. Sterling Falls The pound fell after Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said further asset purchases haven’t been ruled out. Sterling fell 0.2 percent against the dollar and weakened 0.3 percent versus the euro. Gains for the Greek two-year note drove the yield 42 basis points lower to 7.64 percent. The yield on the Portuguese 10- year bond climbed 3 basis points to 4.52 percent after the government sold 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) of the securities in the first test of investor demand since the EU’s bailout package was announced. Gold for immediate delivery rose to a record $1,242.03 an ounce and was at $1,237.43 an ounce. Corn futures in Chicago rose as much as 1.5 percent to $3.8250 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, the highest price since March 23. China, the world’s second-largest user of the grain after the U.S., bought 300,000 metric tons of U.S. corn from an international trading house, two traders with knowledge of the matter said. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for June delivery was little changed at $76.63 a barrel in New York while London- traded North Sea Brent crude was up 1.1 percent up at $81.36. The Micex Index in Russia, the world’s largest energy exporter, jumped 2.6 percent for the biggest gain among global equity gauges. Stock indexes in Poland and the Czech Republic climbed 0.6 percent and 1.2 percent respectively as Germany’s economic expansion improved the outlook for exports. Poland’s currency strengthened 0.6 percent against the euro after the finance ministry said it bought zloty on the spot market. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed 0.3 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: David Merritt in London on dmerritt1@bloomberg.net

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