European stock-index futures climb
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
LONDON, Dec 30 (Bloomberg): European stock-index futures advanced, tracking gains in Asia, on optimism that higher oil and metals prices will boost earnings at energy and raw-material companies. US index futures rose.
BHP Billiton Limited, the world's biggest mining company, increased in Australia. US-traded securities of Eni SpA and Total SA rallied after oil climbed 6.10 per cent Monday. Automakers may be active after the US Treasury committed US$6.0 billion to support General Motors Corporation's financing arm.
Futures on the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the euro region, rose 1.20 per cent to 2,419 at 7:45 a.m. in London. The UK's FTSE 100 Index may increase 23, according to Cantor Index, a betting firm. Europe's Stoxx 600 climbed for the first time in six days Monday, adding 0.20 per cent.
"European equity markets look set to continue working their way higher as we approach the year end," Jimmy Yates, a dealer at CMC Markets in London, wrote in a note. "Resource stocks performed well Monday so expect these to remain in focus."
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.50 per cent today, trimming the gauge's worst annual decline on record. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.40 per cent.
The Stoxx 600 slid 47 per cent this year, the biggest annual drop on record, as credit-related losses and writedowns at financial firms that topped $1 trillion pushed the US, Europe and Japan into the first simultaneous recessions since World War II. The regional benchmark index is now valued at 9.1 times the earnings of its companies, compared with an average ratio of 26 since 2002, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
BHP rose 2.60 per cent in Australia, while Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-largest mining company, added 1.30 per cent. Nickel and zinc prices gained in London.
American depositary receipts of Eni, Italy's biggest oil company, climbed 1.10 per cent from the stock's close. Total, Europe's third-largest oil company, gained 1.10 per cent from the close.
Oil rose 6.10 per cent Monday in New York, extending a 6.70 per cent gain in the previous trading session. The contract for February delivery slipped 0.90 per cent to $39.67 a barrel today.
Daimler AG, the world's largest truck maker, and Volkswagen AG, Europe's biggest carmaker, may be active. The US Treasury committed $6 billion to support GMAC LLC, the financing arm of GM, widening the government's effort to keep the largest US automaker out of bankruptcy.
The Treasury will purchase a US$5 billion stake in GMAC and lend $1.0 billion to GM so the automaker can contribute to the lender's reorganisation as a bank holding company, according to a statement issued Monday.
BHP Billiton Limited, the world's biggest mining company, increased in Australia. US-traded securities of Eni SpA and Total SA rallied after oil climbed 6.10 per cent Monday. Automakers may be active after the US Treasury committed US$6.0 billion to support General Motors Corporation's financing arm.
Futures on the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the euro region, rose 1.20 per cent to 2,419 at 7:45 a.m. in London. The UK's FTSE 100 Index may increase 23, according to Cantor Index, a betting firm. Europe's Stoxx 600 climbed for the first time in six days Monday, adding 0.20 per cent.
"European equity markets look set to continue working their way higher as we approach the year end," Jimmy Yates, a dealer at CMC Markets in London, wrote in a note. "Resource stocks performed well Monday so expect these to remain in focus."
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.50 per cent today, trimming the gauge's worst annual decline on record. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.40 per cent.
The Stoxx 600 slid 47 per cent this year, the biggest annual drop on record, as credit-related losses and writedowns at financial firms that topped $1 trillion pushed the US, Europe and Japan into the first simultaneous recessions since World War II. The regional benchmark index is now valued at 9.1 times the earnings of its companies, compared with an average ratio of 26 since 2002, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
BHP rose 2.60 per cent in Australia, while Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-largest mining company, added 1.30 per cent. Nickel and zinc prices gained in London.
American depositary receipts of Eni, Italy's biggest oil company, climbed 1.10 per cent from the stock's close. Total, Europe's third-largest oil company, gained 1.10 per cent from the close.
Oil rose 6.10 per cent Monday in New York, extending a 6.70 per cent gain in the previous trading session. The contract for February delivery slipped 0.90 per cent to $39.67 a barrel today.
Daimler AG, the world's largest truck maker, and Volkswagen AG, Europe's biggest carmaker, may be active. The US Treasury committed $6 billion to support GMAC LLC, the financing arm of GM, widening the government's effort to keep the largest US automaker out of bankruptcy.
The Treasury will purchase a US$5 billion stake in GMAC and lend $1.0 billion to GM so the automaker can contribute to the lender's reorganisation as a bank holding company, according to a statement issued Monday.