European Stocks Advance; Carrefour, Daily Mail Shares Climb

By Sarah Jones

Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks advanced as Carrefour SA, Europe’s largest retailer, reported earnings that beat estimates and analysts recommended shares of media companies. Asian stocks rose, while U.S. index futures slid.

Carrefour climbed more than 3 percent to a 16-month high. Daily Mail and General Trust Plc led media shares higher as Credit Suisse Group AG and UBS AG both recommended the newspaper publisher. Hynix Semiconductor Inc. climbed 2.6 percent in Seoul after Intel Corp., the world’s biggest chipmaker, forecast better-than-estimated sales.

Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 0.2 percent to 259.4 at 11:24 a.m. in London. The measure is heading for its fifth straight weekly advance, the longest winning streak since April. Record-low interest rates in the U.S. and Europe and about $12 trillion committed by governments worldwide to boost the economy have pushed the gauge 65 percent higher since March.

U.S. stocks rose for a second day yesterday as technology shares climbed before Intel reported earnings and business inventories increased more than forecast. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.5 percent today while futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.3 percent before JPMorgan Chase & Co. reports results ahead of the U.S. open.

JPMorgan, the first of the largest U.S. banks to post fourth-quarter results, may say profit more than tripled from the depths of the financial crisis in 2008, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Combined profit for companies in the S&P 500 surged 62 percent during the fourth quarter following a record nine-quarter slump in profits, analysts’ estimates show.

Hynix, Intel

Hynix, the world’s second-largest computer-memory chipmaker, gained 2.6 percent to 26,100 won. Elpida Memory Inc., Japan’s biggest maker of computer-memory chips, added 1.5 percent to 1,839 yen.

Intel climbed 1 percent to $21.70 in pre-market New York trading after forecasting first-quarter revenue of about $9.7 billion, citing a rebound in demand for notebook computers. That beat the average analyst estimate of $9.34 billion in a Bloomberg survey. Fourth-quarter net income also increased more than ninefold to $2.28 billion.

“It could still be” the year of technology, Andreas Utermann, chief investment officer at RCM unit of Allianz Global Investors, which manages about $1.3 trillion, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “The tech sector will exhibit some top-line growth and we think the market will concentrate on that.”

Carrefour Climbs

Carrefour surged 3.2 percent to 35.70 euros, heading for the highest close since September 2008. The French retailer said late yesterday that full-year operating profit fell about 16 percent to 2.78 billion euros ($4 billion). That was at the higher end of its forecast of 2.7 billion euros to 2.8 billion euros and beat the average analyst estimate of 2.6 billion-euros in a Bloomberg survey.

Celesio AG increased 2.6 percent to 20.96 euros as CA Cheuvreux raised its recommendation for Europe’s biggest publicly traded drug wholesaler to “outperform” from “underperform.”

Daily Mail led a gauge of media shares 1 percent higher, rallying 5.4 percent to 475 pence. Credit Suisse raised its recommendation for the publisher of the U.K.’s Daily Mail newspaper to “outperform” from “underperform” and UBS upgraded the shares to “buy” from “neutral.”

ITV advanced 2.5 percent to 57.7 pence as UBS upgraded Britain’s biggest private television company to “buy” from “neutral” and added the shares to its “media most preferred” list.

Irish Banks

Allied Irish Banks Plc rallied 4.1 percent to 1.55 euros in Dublin as Morgan Stanley rated the shares “overweight” in new coverage. Bank of Ireland Plc, which was rated “equal weight” at Morgan Stanley, climbed 4.7 percent to 1.57 euros.

Separately, the Irish Independent said Allied Irish may sell Goodbody Stockbrokers as part of its restructuring plan. The Dublin-based newspaper didn’t cite anyone.

Man Group Plc lost 5.3 percent to 297.8 pence, the biggest intraday drop since October. The largest publicly traded hedge- fund firm posted a bigger-than-expected decline in assets in the last three months of 2009 as its main fund posted its first annual loss.

QinetiQ Group Plc sank 12 percent to 143.5 pence, the worst performer on the Stoxx 600. The military researcher split off from the British defense ministry said U.S. and U.K. order delays will hurt its second-half performance.

A report today may show U.S. production rose in December for the fifth time in past six months, economists said before a report due at 9:15 New York time. Separately, economists forecast that the Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary sentiment index for January probably rose to 74, the highest level in two years.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net;