BLBG:U.S. Stock-Index Futures Gain After EU Summit; Cooper Companies Advances
U.S. stock-index rose, indicating the Standard & Poorâs 500 Index (SPX) will pare this weekâs drop, after European leaders agreed to boost a rescue fund and tighten budget rules to stem the regionâs debt crisis.
Cooper Companies Inc., the maker of contact lenses, advanced 2.4 percent in Germany after its annual profit forecast topped analystsâ projections. Texas Instruments Inc. sank 5.8 percent in after-hours trading as a sales forecast from the largest maker of analog chips fell short of estimates.
Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in March gained 0.5 percent to 1,236.4 at 10:48 a.m. in London before reports on consumer confidence and trade. Dow Jones Industrial Average Index futures added 57 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,001.
The S&P 500 has declined 0.8 percent this week after the gauge slid 2.1 percent yesterday as the European Central Bank damped speculation it would boost purchases of government bonds.
âI donât think thereâs much of a disappointment in the summit that weâve seen overnight,â Otto Waser, chief investment officer at Research & Asset Management AG in Zurich, told Bloomberg Television. âI think weâre right on track. Weâre 20 percent where we should be towards fiscal union to rescue the euro.â
European leaders meeting in Brussels tightened anti-deficit rules and agreed to boost their crisis-fighting war chest by as much as 200 billion euros ($267 billion) by funneling money to the International Monetary Fund.
âFiscal Compactâ
In an accord hailed as a âvery good outcomeâ by ECB President Mario Draghi, the leaders outlined a âfiscal compactâ to prevent future debt run-ups and accelerated the start of a planned 500 billion-euro rescue fund. In addition, they watered down the demand that investors share the cost of future bailouts.
Leaders aim to set up the permanent rescue fund, known as the European Stability Mechanism, in July 2012, a year ahead of schedule. By March, they will reassess plans to cap the overall lending of the ESM and the temporary fund at 500 billion euros. For the time being, Germany deflected a move to grant the ESM a banking license, which would enable it to multiply its firepower by borrowing from the ECB.
In the U.S., the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment probably rose to 65.8 in December from 64.1 in November, the highest level since June, according to a Bloomberg survey of 73 economists before the data is released at 9:55 a.m. New York time.
Trade Gap
Another release may show that the trade deficit widened in October as a strengthening U.S. economy helped drive up the nationâs import bill while exports cooled from a record high. The gap grew to $44 billion from the prior monthâs $43.1 billion shortfall that was the smallest this year, according to the median estimate of 79 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Cooper Companies advanced 2.4 percent to $59.60 in German trading after the company forecast fiscal year 2012 earnings of at least $4.80 a share, topping the average analyst estimate of $4.65 in a Bloomberg survey of analysts.
Texas Instruments (TXN) dropped 5.8 percent to $28.17 in late New York trading yesterday. Fourth-quarter revenue will be $3.19 billion to $3.33 billion, the Dallas-based company said. On average, analysts had estimated sales of $3.41 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Boeing Co. (BA) slipped 0.3 percent to $69.97 in German trading. The planemaker faces competition for a drone surveillance program that provides troops with real-time battlefield video because the U.S. military now plans to buy the services from multiple companies.
The Navy will increase the value of the new contract to as much as $874 million during five years, awarding it to an unspecified number of companies by the end of June, Marine Colonel Jim Rector, the programâs manager, said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Corinne Gretler in Zurich at cgretler1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net