European Stocks Are Little Changed Before U.S. Report
European stocks were little changed as investors awaited a U.S. consumer spending report to help gauge the strength of the world’s largest economy. U.S. futures were also little changed, while Asian shares gained.
Adidas AG (ADS) advanced after the sporting goods maker raised its 2012 earnings forecast. Actelion Ltd. (ATLN) soared 18 percent after the company’s lung drug met the main goal of a late-stage clinical trial. Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI) retreated 2.1 percent as revenue fell short of analyst estimates.
The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.2 percent to 258.49 at 11:11 a.m. in London after earlier rallying as much as 0.4 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.2 percent, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rallied 0.7 percent.
“There is a two-way pull in the market at the moment,” said Kevin Lilley, a European fund manager at Old Mutual Asset Managers U.K. in London which has 4 billion pounds ($6.5 billion) in assets under management. “On the one hand, company results coming through are generally better than expected on both sides of the Atlantic, and on the other hand, economic data has been mixed.”
Today’s U.S. report may show household purchases, which account for about 70 percent of the economy, rose 0.4 percent in March, according to the median economist forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. That follows a 0.8 percent gain that was the most in seven months. A separate report may show an index of business activity cooled this month.
Spanish GDP
The Stoxx 600 initially climbed at the open after data showed Spain’s economy contracted less than previously forecast in the first quarter as the economy officially entered its second recession since 2009.
Gross domestic product fell 0.3 percent, the same as in the previous three months, the Madrid-based National Statistics Institute said in an e-mailed statement today. That compares with the Bank of Spain’s estimate on April 23 of a 0.4 percent decline. From a year ago, GDP fell 0.4 percent, INE said.
European (SXXP) stocks have climbed for two consecutive weeks as better-than-forecast earnings outweighed disappointing economic data and political uncertainty in France and the Netherlands. The gauge has still lost 5.1 percent since its 2012 high and 1.8 percent this month amid renewed concerns that the euro-area is yet to contain its sovereign-debt crisis.
Adidas Gains
Adidas rose 5.3 percent to 62.97 euros after forecasting a 12 percent to 17 percent increase in full-year profit, compared with a previous prediction of 10 percent to 15 percent growth.
The world’s second-largest sporting-goods maker also today reported a 38 percent jump in net income to 289 million euros ($383 million) in the first three months of the year fueled by golf sales and growth in China . That beat the 230.6 million-euro average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey.
Actelion soared 18 percent to 40.02 Swiss francs after its experimental lung drug macitentan met the main goal of a late- stage clinical trial, providing the company with a possible successor to a treatment that accounts for 89 percent of sales.
Telenor ASA (TEL) rallied 3.9 percent to 103.90 kroner as the company said it may have to exit India , the world’s second- largest mobile market, after the country’s telecommunications regulator proposed an 11-fold increase in license fees.
Aberdeen Asset Management Plc (ADN) climbed 2.3 percent to 280.4 pence after first-half revenue and earnings beat market estimates.
Adjusted earnings before amortization for the six months ended March 31 rose to 162.2 million pounds ($264.3 million), or 10.4 pence a share, from 142.8 million pounds, or 8.9 pence, a year earlier, the Scottish money manager said in a statement today. That beat the average estimate of 151.7 million pounds of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
InBev Declines
InBev paced declining shares, falling 2.1 percent to 53.92 euros. The world’s biggest brewer reported a 6.2 percent rise in first-quarter revenue, excluding acquisitions, disposals and currency fluctuations. The median estimate of eight analysts was for a 6.6 percent increase and represented a 1.8 percent advance in the volume of beer sold. BNP Paribas SA (BNP) , France’s largest bank, lost 0.7 percent to 30.83 euros and Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) slid 0.9 percent to 33.22 euros as Citigroup Inc. said Moody’s Investors Services will likely downgrade major capital market banks including BNP and Deutsche Bank to A2 from A.
Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) sank 10 percent to 130 pence, snapping a three-day rally. The fourth-largest platinum producer reported a 7 percent drop in attributable output for the third quarter. The company has also suspended the Siphumelele shaft and the M5 project at its Marikana operations in South Africa because of low local-currency prices for its metals.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net
