Europe Day Ahead: Asian Stocks Rise; Oil Gains; Dollar Falls

By Mark Sweetman

July 31 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks advance; crude oil gains; dollar falls.

EUROPEAN MARKETS

The FTSE 100 Index will probably falls 5 points, the DAX may drop 4 points, the CAC may open unchanged points and the ISEQ may decline 9 points, according to Cantor Index.

TOP STORIES and MOST READ

Asian Stocks Rise on Profits; MSCI Set for Fifth Monthly Gain

Banks Paid $32.6 Billion in Bonuses Amid U.S. Bailout (Update4)

Barclays May Say Profit Rose on Investment Banking, Bond Swap

Japan’s Jobless Rate at Six-Year High, Prices Drop (Update1)

Oil Rises as Asian Stock Gains Increase Fuel-Demand Optimism

MAIN COMPANIES

Air France, Reed Elsevier, Santander: Europe Equity Preview

ANALYST CHANGES

CAP GEMINI RAISED TO ‘BUY’ VS ‘UNDERPERFORM’ AT MERRILL LYNCH LOGICA RAISED TO ‘BUY’ FROM ‘UNDERPERFORM’ AT MERRILL LYNCH INDRA CUT TO ‘UNDERPERFORM’ FROM ‘BUY’ AT MERRILL LYNCH INCHCAPE RAISED TO ‘BUY’ FROM ‘REDUCE’ AT NOMURA HUGO BOSS PREFS. CUT TO ‘NEUTRAL’ FROM ‘BUY’ AT UBS MAN GROUP CUT TO ‘SELL’ FROM ‘NEUTRAL’ AT UBS VONTOBEL RAISED TO ‘BUY’ FROM ‘SELL’ AT UBS REXAM RAISED TO ‘BUY’ FROM ‘NEUTRAL’ AT UBS BANK SARASIN CUT TO ‘NEUTRAL’ FROM ‘BUY’ AT UBS CAP GEMINI RAISED TO ‘OVERWEIGHT’ AT MORGAN STANLEY LOGICA RAISED TO ‘OVERWEIGHT’ AT MORGAN STANLEY DEUTSCHE BANK CUT TO ‘EQUAL-WEIGHT’ AT MORGAN STANLEY RANDSTAD CUT TO ‘SELL’ FROM ‘NEUTRAL’ AT GOLDMAN SACHS CSR RAISED TO ‘OVERWEIGHT’ FROM ‘NEUTRAL’ AT JPMORGAN REED ELSEVIER CUT TO ‘HOLD’ FROM ‘BUY’ AT DEUTSCHE BANK KBC RAISED TO ‘HOLD’ FROM ‘SELL’ AT DEUTSCHE BANK

MARKETS

U.S. Stocks Rally, S&P 500 Nears Nine-Month High, on Earnings

Treasuries Fall, Head for 4th Monthly Loss as Recession Eases

Dollar Falls a 2nd Day Versus Euro on Optimism GDP Drop Slowed

NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS

German Company Bans Employees From Iran Protests, WSJ Reports

Russian Energy Minister to Visit Iraq in August, Interfax Says

IMF Finds EU Recovery From Recession is ‘Uncertain,’ WSJ Says

Stanchart May Buy RBS Small Business Units in India, Times Says

For Related News and Information: For event listings: EVTS For stock market performance: WEIS For currency market performance: WCRS