European Stocks Rise on Earnings; Carrefour, PPR, Dexia Advance

By Adam Haigh

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks rose for a fourth day as better-than-estimated earnings from Carrefour SA and PPR SA and Dexia SA's signal it won't need more capital overcame concern that a slump in consumer spending on technology is spreading.

Carrefour, the world's second-biggest retailer, jumped 6.7 percent as demand in emerging markets boosted first-half profit. PPR climbed 4.9 percent after earnings more than doubled, helped by higher revenue at the Gucci luxury-goods brand. Dexia, the world's biggest lender to local governments, jumped 3.4 percent after saying its solvency is ``extremely high.''

Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 0.6 percent to 289.06 at 2:51 p.m. The index has climbed 1.9 percent in August, heading for its first advance in four months.

``The market is definitely performing better after the earnings reports,'' said Philippe Gijsels, Brussels-based senior equity strategist at Fortis Global Markets with $62 billion under management. ``Outside the financials, they continue to be fairly good which lends some support to the market.''

Stocks extended gains after a measure of U.S. business activity unexpectedly showed expansion in August. The National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said its business index increased to 57.9 this month, after economists had projected it would fall to 50. A figure above 50 signals growth.

The Stoxx 600 yesterday erased this month's losses after a U.S. economic report signaled companies are weathering higher inflation and $512 billion in credit-related losses. U.S. stocks climbed the most in three weeks yesterday following the data.

Chipmakers Slump

ASML Holding NV led declines by semiconductor-related shares after Dell Inc. said the U.S. slide in technology spending is moving to Europe and parts of Asia.

National benchmark indexes rose in 13 of the 18 western European markets. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.4 percent, and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.5 percent. Germany's DAX Index was little changed.

Carrefour jumped 6.7 percent to 35.95 euros. First-half net income from recurring operations totaled 750 million euros ($1.1 billion), beating the 743 million-euro median of seven analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

PPR climbed 4.9 percent to 80.14 euros after saying first- half profit more than doubled on demand for luxury goods and a gain from selling YSL Beaute. Net income climbed to 779 million euros ($1.15 billion), beating the 327 million-euro median estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Dexia

Dexia climbed 3.4 percent to 9.73 euros after its Chief Executive Officer Axel Miller damped speculation the company would need more capital.

``Dexia's solvency has remained extremely high,'' Miller said.

Technology stocks were the worst performing industry group on the Stoxx 600 after Dell, the world's second-biggest maker of personal computers, said that ``continued conservatism'' from some customers in the U.S. is spreading to western Europe and some Asian countries.

ASML, Europe's largest manufacturer of semiconductor equipment, fell 2.1 percent to 16.28 euros. Nokia Oyj, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, slipped 2.9 percent to 16.95 euros.

Concern rising oil prices and credit losses will stifle economic growth has led analysts to cut earnings estimates this year. Profit among companies in the Stoxx 600 will decline 2.1 percent on average in 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, down from 11 percent at the start of 2008.

Analysts expect retailers to buck the trend, with earnings forecast to rise 4.8 percent this year, the data show. That compares with a 26 percent slump for financial firms, the worst outlook among groups in the benchmark Stoxx 600 index.

Oil Gains

Daimler AG, the world's second-largest luxury carmaker, lost 1.2 percent to 39.95 euros. PSA Peugeot Citroen, Europe's second-biggest carmaker, sank 0.8 percent to 33.05 euros

Merrill Lynch & Co. downgraded Peugeot to ``underweight'' from ``neutral,'' saying the company may have to reduce its 2008 operating profit targets as growth slows.

Crude oil is headed for its biggest weekly gain in almost two months as producers evacuated rigs ahead of Gustav, forecast to become the worst Gulf of Mexico hurricane since Katrina. Crude today climbed as much as $1.80, or 1.6 percent, to $117.39 in New York.

L'Oreal fell 3.7 percent to 67.26 euros. Sales at the world's largest cosmetics maker disappointed some analysts and the company reported the slowest profit growth in three years.

To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Haigh in London at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net