European, U.S. Stock-Index Futures Advance; Asian Shares Gain

By Adria Cimino

Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- European stock-index futures advanced as Bank of America Corp. said it will repay $45 billion of government bailout funds and the Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy improved. Asian shares and U.S. futures rose.

Heineken NV, the world’s third-largest brewer, may gain after CA Cheuvreux lifted its recommendation on the stock. Siemens AG, Europe’s biggest engineering company, may be active after reporting its first quarterly loss in a year. Sony Corp., which gets 23 percent of its sales in the U.S., surged 6 percent in Tokyo as a weaker yen boosted Japanese exporters.

Futures on the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the euro region, added 1 percent at 7:23 a.m. in London. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index may increase 25, according to Cantor Index, a betting firm.

Most U.S. stocks rose yesterday after the Fed said the economy expanded or improved “modestly” from October to mid- November. Eight regions “indicated some pickup in activity or improvement in conditions,” while the other four said conditions were little changed or mixed, the Fed said in its Beige Book business survey.

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures advanced 0.6 percent today as Bank of America, the nation’s biggest lender, said it will repay the Troubled Asset Relief Program using $26.2 billion of “excess liquidity” and $18.8 billion from the sale of securities.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 1.7 percent, helped by the weaker yen.

Emergency Lending

The European Central Bank may today announce plans to scale back its emergency lending while keeping interest rates at a record low to foster an economic recovery. ECB policy makers will leave the benchmark interest rate at 1 percent, according to all 54 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. A report on gross domestic product in the countries sharing the euro currency also is expected today.

The Stoxx 600 has rallied 24 percent this year amid signs government spending and record-low interest rates are helping to drag the economy out of recession.

Heineken may gain. The brewer was upgraded to “outperform” from “underperform” by Cheuvreux, which set a new price estimate of 38 euros.

Siemens reported its first quarterly loss in a year as writedowns at the telephone network venture with Nokia Oyj eclipsed profitable energy and health-care units. The net loss in the fiscal fourth quarter narrowed to 1.13 billion euros ($1.7 billion) from a loss of 2.47 billion a year earlier, Siemens said. Fourth-quarter sector profit was 1.92 billion, surpassing analysts’ estimates of 1.57 billion euros.

Japanese Exporters

Japan’s exporters rose after the yen weakened against all 16 of its major counterparts and traded as low as 87.78 against the dollar, the lowest level since Nov. 25. That boosts the value of overseas earnings at Japanese companies when converted into their home currency. Sony, an electronics maker, rose 6 percent to 2,475 yen.

Ericsson AB and STMicroelectronics NV may be active. ST- Ericsson, the semiconductor joint venture between the two companies, announced a new cost savings plan which will involve the review of 600 jobs. The company said it would target yearly savings of $115 million to come from reductions in operating costs and more efficient research and development.

Unilever NV may move. The world’s second-largest maker of consumer products is considering selling its Italian frozen food business in a deal valued at up to 800 million euros, the Financial Times reported, without attribution.

HeidelbergCement AG may gain. Germany’s biggest cement maker was rated “buy” in new coverage at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research.

Kingfisher Plc might advance. Europe’s largest home- improvement retailer said third-quarter profit rose 28 percent as improving house prices drove sales of kitchens and barbecues.

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