European stocks climbed
European stocks climbed to the highest level since October 2008 and Asian shares advanced after China raised its economic growth forecast and Japan’s industrial production increased. U.S. index futures also gained.
Infineon Technologies AG, which gets more than 40 percent of annual sales from the Asia-Pacific region, added 1.1 percent. ArcelorMittal led basic-resources companies higher as metals prices rose. Seadrill Ltd., the drilling company founded by billionaire John Fredriksen, and Aker Solutions ASA gained at least 1 percent as crude oil traded above $78 a barrel.
Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 0.4 percent to 252.89 as of 12:46 p.m. in Paris. The gauge is heading for its biggest annual increase in a decade, having climbed 27 percent this year, on mounting evidence that the global economy is recovering from its worst recession since World War II. Markets in Europe were closed on Dec. 25 for the Christmas holiday. The U.K. is also closed today.
China on Dec. 25 raised its 2008 growth estimate to 9.6 percent from 9 percent and said this year’s quarterly figures will also increase, narrowing the gap with Japan, the world’s second-biggest economy.
Emerging markets’ economies “will support global growth,” said Arnaud Scarpaci, a fund manager at Agilis Gestion in Paris, which oversees about $150 million. “That’s good for stocks. We expect another year of gains in 2010.”
Rally Since March
Japan’s Cabinet Office said on Dec. 25 that the economy will expand for the first time in three years and today said industrial production improved for a ninth month in November.
A 60 percent rally in the Stoxx 600 since March has been spurred by record-low interest rates in the U.S. and Europe and as governments committed about $12 trillion worldwide to revive credit markets and stimulate economic growth.
U.S. stocks rose last week, pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a 15-month high. Futures on the benchmark for U.S. equities increased 0.1 percent today, and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.7 percent.
Infineon, Europe’s second-biggest semiconductor maker, climbed 1.1 percent to 3.83 euros.
ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, rose 1.5 percent to 31.77 euros. Boliden AB, Europe’s second-largest zinc producer, gained 1.3 percent to 91.05 kronor.
Basic-resources shares were the best performers among 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600. Copper in Shanghai climbed to the highest price in more than 15 months on optimism demand is improving in the world’s largest user after domestic stockpiles dropped. Zinc jumped to the highest since April 2008.
Crude Oil
Seadrill rose 1.1 percent to 149.1 kroner. Aker Solutions, Norway’s biggest maker of oil platforms and equipment, advanced 1 percent to 76.15 kroner. Tenaris SA, the world’s largest maker of seamless pipes used to extract oil and gas, added 1.8 percent to 15.04 euros. Crude oil climbed for a fourth day as forecasts of colder-than-normal weather in the U.S. increased demand for heating fuels.
PSA Peugeot Citroen, Europe’s second-biggest carmaker, added 0.9 percent to 23.67 euros. French new car sales increased by about 40 percent between Dec. 1 and Dec. 23, helped by scrapping incentives, French daily Les Echos reported, without citing anyone. By Christmas, December car sales in France reached 180,000, meaning that 2009 as a whole will show an increase of about 9 percent, according to the newspaper.
Seat Pagine Gialle SpA lost 2.2 percent to 16 cents after Italy’s largest telephone directories publisher said on Dec. 23 that it may cut financial targets for 2010 and 2011.
U.S. Economy
The U.S. economy next year will turn in its best performance since 2004 as spending perks up and companies increase investment and hiring, says Dean Maki, the most- accurate forecaster in a Bloomberg News survey.
The world’s largest economy will expand 3.5 percent in 2010, according to Maki, the chief U.S. economist at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York. The rebound in stocks and rising incomes will prompt Americans to do what they do best –consume, said Maki, a former economist at the Federal Reserve.
Brown-Forman Corp.’s Paul Varga and Johnson & Johnson’s William Weldon are among chief executive officers left behind in the 2009 stock-market rebound even after they created the most value for their companies. Brown-Forman, the maker of Jack Daniel’s whiskey and Southern Comfort liqueur; J&J, the world’s largest health products company; and 30 other S&P 500 companies rallied less than 10 percent this year as their managers posted better-than-average sales and efficiently invested capital, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Trade on European and Asian Stocks with Binary Option Trading Software
