European stocks rose as companies from Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI) to Adecco SA (ADEN) reported earnings that topped estimates, reassuring investors that rising profits can push equities higher. U.S. futures and Asian shares advanced. AB InBev, the brewer of Stella Artois and Bud Light, climbed 3 percent and Adecco, the world’s largest supplier of temporary workers, advanced 6.3 percent. British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc (BSY) gained 2.5 percent after Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. won U.K. government approval for its 7.8 billion- pound ($12.7 billion) bid to take full control of the company. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.9 percent to 285.35 at 11:53 a.m. in London, rebounding from two days of losses. The gauge has climbed 3.5 percent this year amid better- than-estimated corporate earnings and indications the global economy is gathering strength. The results season has showed “high profit margins and low leverage,” Jan Loeys, the New-York based chief market strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co., wrote in a report today. “The bullish force of a zero return on cash, combined with fading medium-term uncertainties, remains in place and keeps us significantly long equities to bonds.” Fifty-six percent of Stoxx 600 companies that have announced earnings since Jan. 10 have beaten the average analyst estimate for per-share profit. The gauge is valued at about 13 times the reported earnings of its companies, close to the cheapest since March 2009, when the measure reached its lowest level in more than 12 years. U.S., Asian Shares Futures contracts on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring this month advanced 1 percent today. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.7 percent. The Stoxx 600 has declined 2 percent since peaking at a 2 1/2-year high on Feb. 17 as opponents of Libya’s ruler Muammar Qaddafi took over large parts of the country, sending the price of oil soaring. Crude dropped from the highest close in 29 months on the New York Mercantile Exchange today after the Arab League said it’s studying ways to end the crisis in Libya that has cut supplies from Africa’s third-biggest producer. The European Central Bank will announce its latest interest-rate decision at 1:45 p.m. Frankfurt time and ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet will hold a press conference 45 minutes later. The central bank is the first of the world’s five biggest central banks to announce a policy decision since crude oil surged over $100 a barrel last week. U.S. Economy U.S. service industries in February probably maintained a pickup in growth, the Tempe, Arizona-based Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing gauge may show at 10 a.m. New York time. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists for the ISM’s non-manufacturing gauge is 59.3 after a 59.4 reading in January that was the highest since 2005. Figures greater than 50 signal expansion. A Labor Department report at 8:30 a.m. may show 395,000 workers filed applications for unemployment insurance payments last week compared with 391,000 the previous period, according to the median economist forecast. Claims reached a two-year low of 384,000 in the week ended Feb. 5. The data comes before tomorrow’s monthly jobs report, which is forecast to indicate payrolls rose by 195,000 workers in February after a 36,000 gain the previous month. AB InBev gained 3 percent to 41.36 euros. Fourth-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, excluding some items, were $3.9 billion, beating the median estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News for profit of $3.4 billion. Adecco, BSkyB Adecco advanced 6.3 percent to 65.6 Swiss francs after reporting fourth-quarter net income of 141 million euros ($196 million). That exceeded the average analyst estimate of 115 million euros. BSkyB climbed 2.5 percent to 819 pence, the highest price since 2002. News Corp. won approval for its bid to take full control of the broadcaster after agreeing to spin off its Sky News channel into a new public limited company. Alcatel-Lucent led technology shares higher, surging 9.1 percent to 3.93 euros. There is speculation that an Chinese firm may make a bid for France’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, according to Jean-Michel Salvador, an analyst at AlphaValue in Paris. Alcatel spokeswoman Alix Cavallari declined to comment. Ericsson, Tullow Ericsson AB, the world’s biggest maker of wireless phone networks, rallied 3.5 percent to 81.30 kronor after UBS AG upgraded its recommendation on the shares to “buy” from “neutral.” Tullow Oil Plc (TLW) advanced 3.8 percent to 1,464 pence after saying its appraisal well in the Deepwater Tano licence off the coast of Ghana has successfully encountered oil in excellent quality sandstone reservoirs and confirming that the Owa-1 discovery is a “major light oil find.” IMI jumped 5.8 percent to 936.5 pence. The world’s biggest maker of pneumatic controls said full-year net income rose to 224.7 million pounds from 130.2 million pounds. The company said its “optimistic” of making good progress in 2011. Royal Ahold NV, the owner of Stop & Shop supermarkets, dropped 2.9 percent to 9.42 euros as fourth-quarter profit missed analysts’ estimates. To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Haigh in London at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net

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