Stocks in Europe, Asia Advance, Led by Nestle, BNP and Toyota

By Adria Cimino

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks in Europe and Asia rose, sending the MSCI World Index higher for the first time in eight days, as results from Nestle SA and BNP Paribas SA reassured investors and a weaker yen boosted the earnings prospects of Japanese automakers. U.S. index futures advanced.

Nestle added 5 percent in Zurich on signals from the world’s biggest food company that sales growth will hold up better than some analysts expected. BNP Paribas gained 2.2 percent after Chief Executive Officer Baudouin Prot said he was “confident” France’s largest bank will be profitable this year. Toyota Motor Corp., which makes 37 percent of its sales in North America, climbed 2 percent in Tokyo as the yen traded near its lowest this year against the dollar.

The MSCI World Index increased 0.5 percent to 795.66 at 9:10 a.m. in London. The gauge of 23 developed countries slid 9.8 percent in the previous seven days as companies from Electricite de France SA to Diageo Plc posted disappointing results and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner failed to convince investors that his plan to rescue U.S. banks will work.

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.8 percent. Most U.S. stocks slipped yesterday as the Federal Reserve predicted the economy will contract as much as 1.3 percent this year. The minutes of the central bank’s Jan. 27-28 meeting said most members of the monetary policy committee “saw a significant risk that the economic recovery could be delayed.”

Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index rose for the first time in four days, adding 0.3 percent as Technip SA rallied. The regional gauge slumped 7.5 percent this year after credit-related losses at financial firms worldwide climbed to $1.1 trillion and Europe, the U.S. and Japan fell into the first simultaneous recessions since World War II.

Asia, China

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.5 percent. China will seek to boost domestic demand, increase financial input for the electronics and information-technology industries and maintain the level of export tax rebates for electronic products, the State Council said.

Nestle gained 5 percent to 38.88 Swiss francs. The company has a goal for so-called organic growth of 5 percent to 6 percent each year. Analysts expect a 3.7 percent gain in 2009, the slowest in 16 years, according to the median of 11 estimates.

Nestle also said it will increase its dividend for the year by 15 percent to 1.40 francs a share.

BNP added 2.2 percent to 25.15 euros even after posting a 1.37 billion-euro ($1.72 billion) fourth-quarter loss.

“In this environment that remains challenging, I’m confident that BNP Paribas will be able again to have a good performance and certainly be profitable,” Prot said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “I do believe that the French market will be the most resilient in Europe revenue-wise and risk-wise.”

Japanese Automakers

Toyota increased 2 percent to 3,120 yen. Honda Motor Co., which gets half its revenue in North America, gained 1.8 percent to 2,290 yen.

The Japanese currency traded as weak as 93.85 against the dollar today from 92.39 at the close of stock trading in Tokyo yesterday. The yen sank to 93.96 late yesterday, the weakest since Jan. 7.

The currency’s gain in the past year has contributed to members of Japan’s Topix index forecasting an 86 percent tumble in net income for the year to March 31, according to a Feb. 17 report from Shinko Research Institute Co.

Technip jumped 7.5 percent to 25.54 euros. Europe’s second-largest oilfield-services provider reported a fourth- quarter profit of 134 million euros after a year-earlier loss.

Reed Elsevier, Swiss Re

Reed Elsevier Plc increased 5.2 percent to 9.39 euros in Amsterdam. The owner of the LexisNexis database said profit rose last year on higher sales at its health publishing business, and predicted growth for 2009.

Swiss Reinsurance Co., the world’s second-biggest reinsurer, added 2.3 percent to 18.02 francs even after reporting a fourth- quarter loss of 1.75 billion Swiss francs ($1.49 billion) after a failed effort to boost earnings with sales and trading of securities.

Profits have declined 85 percent for 162 companies in the Stoxx 600 that released results since Jan. 12, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Earnings at the 383 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported fourth-quarter results fell 33 percent on average as firms from Microsoft Corp. to Procter & Gamble Co. disappointed investors and the economy shrank at the fastest pace in 26 years. The period is projected to be the sixth straight quarter of decreasing profits, the longest streak on record.

Hewlett-Packard Co. slid 5.5 percent to $32.20 in Germany. The world’s largest personal-computer maker reported sales that missed analysts’ estimates and reduced its earnings forecast for the year. The company is cutting salaries starting this quarter.

To contact the reporter on this story: Adria Cimino in Paris at acimino1@bloomberg.net.