BLBG: European Stocks Gain After Three-Day Drop; Actelion Rises
European stocks rose, rebounding from three days of losses, as European Union foreign ministers meet in Brussels to discuss sanctions against Russia. U.S. index futures were little changed, while Asian shares gained.
Actelion Ltd. added 2.9 percent after raising its full-year profit forecast. ARM Holdings Plc (ARM) climbed 4.1 percent after predicting an acceleration of royalty revenue growth in the second half of 2014. Credit Suisse Group AG slipped 2.6 percent after posting a wider quarterly loss than analysts had projected. Norsk Hydro ASA (NHY) declined 1.7 percent after reporting earnings that trailed estimates.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.7 percent to 340.13 at 9:46 a.m. in London after falling 1.5 percent in the past three days. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures climbed 0.1 percent today, and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.6 percent.
“The rebound in stocks is a reaction to the losses of the last three days,” Christian Stocker, a strategist at UniCredit Bank AG in Munich, said in a phone interview. “The most market-friendly outcome from the EU ministers’ meeting is that they talk tough but don’t intensify sanctions against Russia. I’m not sure stocks can hold these levels. We might see a bit more consolidation over the next few days.”
The European gauge fell in the past three days as the U.S. and the EU imposed further sanctions on Russia and a Malaysian jet was shot down in a missile strike over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. Ukraine’s government blamed pro-Russian rebels for the attack, while the U.S. has indicated its belief that the Russian military supplied the missile.
Brussels Meeting
The EU needs a twin-track policy of pursuing diplomacy and taking tougher measures to add pressure on Russia, Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters before meeting his counterparts in Brussels today.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said yesterday that the separatists agreed to release the victims’ bodies, grant access to the crash site and hand over the two black boxes and data recorders. Alexander Borodai, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, reached an accord to release the remains of 282 people to the Netherlands, according to Razak.
Actelion advanced 2.9 percent to 112.80 Swiss francs. The drugmaker said core earnings will increase at least in the mid-teen percentage range this year, up from a previous growth forecast of a low single-digit percentage. The company reported first-half core earnings of 421 million francs ($469 million), exceeding the 360.3 million-franc average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
ARM Holdings
ARM Holdings rose 4.1 percent to 867.5 pence. The chip designer whose products power Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPad also posted second-quarter adjusted pretax profit of 94.2 million pounds ($161 million), beating the average projection of 91.5 million pounds.
IG Group Holdings Plc gained 6.9 percent to 614.5 pence after announcing a final dividend of 22.4 pence a share. That surpassed the Bloomberg Dividend Forecast of 18.05 pence a share. The British spread-betting firm posted full-year pretax profit of 194.7 million pounds, exceeding the 192.8 million-pound prediction of analysts in a Bloomberg survey.
A gauge of mining companies added 1.4 percent for the biggest rally among 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600. Anglo American Plc advanced 2.2 percent to 1,579.5 pence and Boliden AB gained 2.3 percent to 112.30 kronor.
Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse retreated 2.6 percent to 25.42 francs. Switzerland’s second-largest bank reported a second-quarter net loss of 700 million francs, the biggest since 2008. Analysts on average had projected a net loss of 691 million-francs.
Norsk Hydro declined 1.7 percent to 35.87 kroner after the Norwegian aluminum producer posted second-quarter net income of 185 million kroner ($29.9 million). That missed the average analyst prediction of 378.5 million kroner.
Publicis Groupe SA (PUB) lost 3.9 percent to 56.59 euros. The French advertising company said second-quarter sales fell 1.5 percent to 1.76 billion euros ($2.4 billion), missing estimates, as the euro strengthened and markets including North America shrank.
To contact the reporter on this story: Namitha Jagadeesh in London at njagadeesh@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecile Vannucci at cvannucci1@bloomberg.net
