European stocks, US futures advance
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
LONDON, July 20 (Bloomberg): European stocks climbed for a sixth straight day, the longest stretch of gains in almost four months, as commodities prices increased. Asian shares and US futures advanced.
BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's largest mining company, rose 3 per cent in London as copper rallied to a nine-month high. Lloyds Banking Group Plc gained 5.2 per cent after a report the lender may report a first-half profit. CIT Group Inc. jumped 84 per cent in Germany as a person briefed on the board's deliberations said the 101-year-old commercial-finance company may announce a financing agreement.
The MSCI World Index advanced 0.6 per cent as of 8:31 a.m. in London. The gauge of 23 developed nations surged 6.6 per cent last week, the biggest rally in four months, after US companies from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Johnson & Johnson reported earnings that beat analysts' estimates.
Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 0.9 per cent. The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index increased 2.8 per cent, set to close at its highest level since September. Japan is closed for a holiday.
Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures added 0.3 per cent. A report that may show the gauge of leading indicators in the US climbed for a third consecutive month, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.
BHP Billiton gained 3 per cent to 1,486 pence. Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-largest mining company, climbed 2.9 per cent to 2,217 pence. Copper in Shanghai increased for a fifth day, heading for the longest rally since March, on optimism demand for the metal will pick up as the global recession eases.
Peter Hambro Mining Plc increased 5.2 per cent to 629.5 pence after the second-biggest producer of gold in Russia said first-half output gained 54 per cent from a year earlier.
Lloyds advanced 5.2 per cent to 71 pence. The bank whose largest shareholder is the British government may post a profit for the first six months of the year after accounting rules allowed it to write back billions of pounds of sub-prime investments, the Sunday Times reported, without saying where it got the information.
British home sellers raised asking prices this month to meet increased demand from buyers, Rightmove Plc said. The average cost of a home rose 0.6 per cent to 227,864 pounds (pc372,000) after falling 0.4 per cent in June, the operator of the U.K.'s biggest residential property Web site said today. Prices in London had the first annual gain of the year so far.
CIT Group surged 84 per cent to pc1.29. The 101-year-old commercial-finance company seeking to ward off bankruptcy may announce an agreement for pc3 billion in financing from bondholders as soon as today, said the person, who declined to be identified because the talks are confidential.
CIT needs time to strike deals with bondholders to reduce debt after the US declined to give the firm a second bailout. The funds would give the New York-based company a chance to restructure its debt outside of bankruptcy, the person said.
Total SA added 0.8 per cent to 38.91 euros as crude oil rallied above pc64 a barrel.
The cheapest valuations in at least 14 years are making oil companies too alluring to pass up for UBS AG and Guggenheim Partners LLC, even though earnings in the industry may fall 48 per cent this year.
Oil and gas producers in the MSCI World traded at pc7.84 per dollar of profit this month, less than half the average of pc17.10 in the gauge of developed markets and the widest gap since at least 1995, data compiled by Bloomberg show. UBS, Guggenheim and Cohen & Steers Inc. are buying stocks from Exxon Mobil Corp. to Transocean Ltd. because an economic rebound will lift the industry after it generated at least 50 per cent more profits than any other group in the past year.
BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's largest mining company, rose 3 per cent in London as copper rallied to a nine-month high. Lloyds Banking Group Plc gained 5.2 per cent after a report the lender may report a first-half profit. CIT Group Inc. jumped 84 per cent in Germany as a person briefed on the board's deliberations said the 101-year-old commercial-finance company may announce a financing agreement.
The MSCI World Index advanced 0.6 per cent as of 8:31 a.m. in London. The gauge of 23 developed nations surged 6.6 per cent last week, the biggest rally in four months, after US companies from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Johnson & Johnson reported earnings that beat analysts' estimates.
Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 0.9 per cent. The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index increased 2.8 per cent, set to close at its highest level since September. Japan is closed for a holiday.
Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures added 0.3 per cent. A report that may show the gauge of leading indicators in the US climbed for a third consecutive month, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.
BHP Billiton gained 3 per cent to 1,486 pence. Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-largest mining company, climbed 2.9 per cent to 2,217 pence. Copper in Shanghai increased for a fifth day, heading for the longest rally since March, on optimism demand for the metal will pick up as the global recession eases.
Peter Hambro Mining Plc increased 5.2 per cent to 629.5 pence after the second-biggest producer of gold in Russia said first-half output gained 54 per cent from a year earlier.
Lloyds advanced 5.2 per cent to 71 pence. The bank whose largest shareholder is the British government may post a profit for the first six months of the year after accounting rules allowed it to write back billions of pounds of sub-prime investments, the Sunday Times reported, without saying where it got the information.
British home sellers raised asking prices this month to meet increased demand from buyers, Rightmove Plc said. The average cost of a home rose 0.6 per cent to 227,864 pounds (pc372,000) after falling 0.4 per cent in June, the operator of the U.K.'s biggest residential property Web site said today. Prices in London had the first annual gain of the year so far.
CIT Group surged 84 per cent to pc1.29. The 101-year-old commercial-finance company seeking to ward off bankruptcy may announce an agreement for pc3 billion in financing from bondholders as soon as today, said the person, who declined to be identified because the talks are confidential.
CIT needs time to strike deals with bondholders to reduce debt after the US declined to give the firm a second bailout. The funds would give the New York-based company a chance to restructure its debt outside of bankruptcy, the person said.
Total SA added 0.8 per cent to 38.91 euros as crude oil rallied above pc64 a barrel.
The cheapest valuations in at least 14 years are making oil companies too alluring to pass up for UBS AG and Guggenheim Partners LLC, even though earnings in the industry may fall 48 per cent this year.
Oil and gas producers in the MSCI World traded at pc7.84 per dollar of profit this month, less than half the average of pc17.10 in the gauge of developed markets and the widest gap since at least 1995, data compiled by Bloomberg show. UBS, Guggenheim and Cohen & Steers Inc. are buying stocks from Exxon Mobil Corp. to Transocean Ltd. because an economic rebound will lift the industry after it generated at least 50 per cent more profits than any other group in the past year.