European stocks rose after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. settled with U.S. regulators and BP Plc stopped its Gulf of Mexico oil leak, offsetting disappointing earnings from Google Inc. Asian shares fell and U.S. futures fluctuated. BP, which has been battling since April to contain the worst U.S. oil spill, rallied 6 percent. Yara International ASA climbed 4.4 percent after reporting better-than-expected earnings. Rautaruukki Oyj jumped 7.6 percent after raising its sales forecast for the year. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.3 percent to 253.59 at 8:31 a.m. in London, paring some of yesterday’s 1.2 percent retreat. The measure is heading for a 1.6 percent gain this week as earnings from U.S. companies such as Alcoa Inc. and Intel Corp. beat analysts’ estimates. Still, the gauge remains 6.8 percent below its high this year on April 15 on concern that the global economic recovery is losing steam. U.S. stocks yesterday recovered from an early slump as BP rallied and Goldman Sachs gained before settling the federal government’s fraud lawsuit. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index swung between gains and losses today. Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. are among U.S. companies due to report earnings today. Analysts predict earnings in the S&P 500 grew 34 percent in the second quarter, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Goldman Sachs rallied 5 percent to $152.43 in Germany. The firm agreed to pay $550 million and change its business practices to settle U.S. regulatory claims it misled investors in collateralized debt obligations linked to subprime mortgages. Largest Penalty The penalty is the largest ever levied by the Securities and Exchange Commission against a Wall Street firm. Under the deal, Goldman Sachs acknowledged it made a “mistake” and that marketing materials for the instruments had “incomplete information,” the agency said. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.9 percent after U.S. manufacturing reports yesterday fueled concern an economic recovery may be faltering and technology shares declined as Google, owner of the world’s most popular search engine, reported second-quarter profit that missed analysts’ projections. Google fell 4.4 percent to $472.23 in German trading. Excluding some items, profit was $6.45 a share in the second quarter, the company said yesterday. Analysts had estimated $6.52, according to a Bloomberg survey. Expenses climbed 22 percent to $4.46 billion in the period, a steeper gain than the 18 percent rise in the first quarter. Stopped Flowing BP rallied 6 percent to 425.85 pence, following a 7.6 percent advance in its U.S.-traded securities yesterday. The company said after the close of European trade that oil has stopped flowing into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in about three months. BP is evaluating data from a pressure test it began yesterday that will determine whether the Macondo well can remain sealed. Shares of Transocean Ltd., the company that leased the Deepwater Horizon oil rig to BP, rallied 4.4 percent to 57.1 Swiss francs in Zurich trading. Separately, BP may reach an agreement as soon as next week to sell assets including half its stake in Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay field to Apache Corp. for $10 billion to $11 billion, according to two people familiar with the matter. Yara, Rautaruuki Yara International climbed 4.4 percent to 222.8 kroner after the largest publicly traded nitrogen-fertilizer maker said second-quarter net income was 3.72 billion kroner ($600 million), beating an analyst estimate of 3.61 billion kroner. Rautaruukki jumped 7.6 percent to 14.19 euros after the company raised its 2010 sales forecast, saying revenue will grow 25 percent to 30 percent over last year. The previous target was for 15 percent to 30 percent growth. Rautaruukki said it also expects to post a pretax profit this year. Economic reports today may show the cost of living in the U.S. dropped in June for a third straight month, showing inflation is contained as the recovery cools, economists said. The consumer price index slid 0.1 percent last month after a 0.2 percent drop in May, according to the median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Another report will show consumer sentiment dropped in early July. To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net.

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