BLBG:Stocks, U.S. Futures Gain as Yen Falls; Natural Gas Rises
Stocks and U.S. equity-index futures rose before a report on German factory orders and as company earnings from ArcelorMittal to Walt Disney Co. beat estimates. The yen weakened beyond 94 per dollar for the first time since May 2010, while natural gas climbed for a third day.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.3 percent at 10:20 a.m. in London. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.2 percent. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 3.8 percent, the most since March 2011. The yen slipped as far as 94.06 per dollar as the U.S. currency rose against all of its 16 major counterparts. Spain’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to 5.36 percent. Russia’s 2027 ruble bonds snapped a seven-day slide on plans to open the market to foreign investors. Natural gas gained 1.1 percent.
Factory orders in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, probably rose in December from a month earlier, economists said before a government report today, a day before the European Central Bank holds a policy meeting. ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, said profit will recover this year, and Disney, the largest entertainment company, posted higher sales.
“European companies have made it, but it is more of a strain to get the top line,” Lucy MacDonald, chief investment officer for equities at Allianz Global Investors in London, which oversees about $400 billion, said in a Bloomberg Television interview with Mark Barton. “How the market has behaved through earnings season is a guide for market behavior this year.”
Hargreaves Beats
The Stoxx 600, which erased an earlier drop of as much as 0.3 percent, is 2.4 percent higher this year. ArcelorMittal rose 1.6 percent. Hargreaves Lansdown Plc rallied 6.9 percent as earnings at the U.K.’s largest retail broker also topped estimates. ICAP Plc, the world’s biggest broker of transactions between banks, surged 7.1 percent.
Elan Corp. surged 11 percent in Dublin, the biggest gain since August 2011, as Biogen Idec Inc. agreed to its stake in the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri for $3.25 billion plus future royalties. Royal Imtech NV, the Dutch provider of infrastructure for stadiums whose shares sank 48 percent on Feb. 4 after predicting writedowns exceeding 100 million euros ($136 million), dropped 7 percent as the chief executive officer and chief financial officer of Imtech Deutschland left.
The increase in S&P 500 futures indicated the U.S. gauge will extend yesterday’s 1 percent jump. Disney advanced 2.8 percent in German trading. Zynga Inc. rallied 7.3 percent after the biggest maker of online social games reported fourth-quarter profit and sales that surpassed projections as it cut costs.
Time Warner
Twenty-four companies in the S&P 500 are due to release results today, including Time Warner Inc. and News Corp. Some 74 percent of companies in the index have beaten analysts’ profit estimates since Jan. 8, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Japan’s 225 Stock Average climbed to the highest close since September 2008 as Toyota Motor Corp. raised its profit forecast. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will present his candidate for the next Band of Japan governor to opposition parties after a visit to the U.S. this month, NHK reported today, without saying where it got the information.
The dollar strengthened 0.3 percent to $1.3537 per euro, while Europe’s 17-nation shared currency slipped 0.2 percent to 126.93 yen. Australia’s dollar slid against its 16 major peers after retail sales unexpectedly dropped for a third month.
G7 Volatility
The JPMorgan G7 Volatility Index, calculated based on premiums on currency options, climbed as high as 9.6 percent, the most since July 25.
Germany’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to 1.64 percent. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields held at more than 2 percent for a second straight day.
The yield on Russia’s ruble bonds maturing in February 2027 declined eight basis points to 7.01 percent. Euroclear Bank SA said it will start direct settlement of ruble-denominated government debt tomorrow, opening the $100 billion so-called OFZ market to foreign investors.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid less than 0.1 percent. Malaysia’s benchmark gauge dropped 1.2 percent as speculation mounted the government will dissolve parliament for elections. India’s Sensex and the Shanghai Composite Index added less than 0.1 percent. OAO Sberbank led Russia’s Micex Index 0.6 percent higher after the nation’s largest bank reached a limit to convert shares into depositary receipts.
U.S. natural gas futures rose as forecasters including Commodity Weather Group LLC said below-normal temperatures will sweep into parts of the U.S. Midwest in the next 11 to 15 days. Lumber climbed to a one-month high in Chicago, rising the one- day limit of $10, on mounting speculation that new construction in China is boosting demand for imported wood.
Platinum rose as much as 1.5 percent to $1,736.07 an ounce, the highest price since Sept. 22, 2001.
To contact the reporters on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net; Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stuart Wallace at swallace6@bloomberg.net
