European and Asian shares climbed and U.S. stock-index futures advanced as Alcoa Inc. reported third- quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates and employment in Australia unexpectedly surged.
Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, jumped 7.2 percent in Germany. Xstrata Plc, the world’s fourth-biggest copper producer, and Antofagasta Plc rose more than 2.8 percent. Lloyds Banking Group Plc added 1.6 percent as the Financial Times said the U.K. mortgage lender is considering a 15 billion pound ($23.9 billion) rights offer.
Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index rallied 1.3 percent at 8:10 a.m. in London. The gauge has slipped 1.1 percent from its 2009 high on Sept. 17 as U.S. unemployment, manufacturing and consumer confidence data missed economists’ forecasts, fueling concern the global economic recovery may not be robust.
The European Central Bank and the Bank of England will announce decisions on interest rates today. The central banks will probably leaving their key rates unchanged, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 1.3 percent, led by National Australia Bank Ltd., as the country’s statistics bureau said the nation’s jobless rate fell.
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures rose 1 percent, indicating the benchmark measure for U.S. equities may climb for a fourth day. Alcoa was the first company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to release third-quarter results.
Third-Quarter Earnings
S&P 500 companies will report a ninth straight quarter of declining profits, the longest streak since the Great Depression, before returning to growth in the final three months of the year, analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg show.
Alcoa added 7.2 percent to $15.22 in Germany. The New York- based company’s profit excluding certain items was 4 cents a share, exceeded the average analyst estimate for a 9-cent loss, as metal prices climbed and the company cut jobs.
Xstrata added 3.4 percent to 956.5 pence and Antofagasta, the copper producer controlled by Chile’s Luksic family, gained 2.8 percent to 820 pence. Alumina Ltd., Alcoa’s partner in the world’s biggest producer of the material used to make aluminum, jumped 4.6 percent to A$1.93 in Sydney.
Copper gained in London and gold advanced to a record for a third day as the dollar’s slump prompted investors to buy commodities as a hedge against potential inflation.
Australia’s Economy
National Australia, the country’s third-biggest bank by value, rose 4.4 percent to A$31.35. Two days ago, Australia became the first of the Group of 20 nations to boost borrowing costs since the start of the financial crisis. The “risk of serious economic contraction” has passed, Glenn Stevens, governor of Australia’s central bank, said the same day.
Lloyds increased 1.6 percent to 97.16 pence. The U.K.’s biggest mortgage lender is considering a rights offering that may allow it to withdraw entirely from the government’s asset protection program, the Financial Times reported.
Credit Suisse Group AG added 1.8 percent to 59.85 Swiss francs, while Deutsche Bank AG gained 1.9 percent to 53.53 euros. The two banks will probably report third-quarter earnings that exceed market expectations as favorable trading fuels profit, Morgan Stanley said in an Oct. 7 note to investors.
Halfords Group Plc climbed 6.8 percent to 389 pence. The U.K.’s biggest retailer of car parts and bicycles said second- quarter sales rose 3.8 percent over the equivalent period last year, representing like-for-like sales growth of 2.2 percent.
Ladbrokes Plc fell 6.4 percent to 169.6 pence. The owner of more than 2,300 U.K. and Irish betting shops plans to raise 275 million pounds in a rights offering to cut debt and said it won’t pay a final dividend after profit plunged.
Bloomberg.com
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