European, Asian Shares Advance; Greek Banks, Fortis Increase

By Daniela Silberstein

Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- European and Asian shares rose after Germany signaled it may help support Greece’s finances, easing concern a sovereign default could hamper the economic recovery. U.S. stock-index futures retreated.

National Bank of Greece SA led the nation’s shares higher. Fortis surged 5.2 percent as Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc recommended buying the shares. Banco Comercial Portugues SA jumped 3.9 percent after profit at the lender’s Polish unit beat estimates.

Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index rose 0.8 percent to 241.09 at 9:27 a.m. in London. The measure has tumbled 7.4 percent since this year’s high on Jan. 19 amid concern that Greece, Spain and Portugal will struggle to curb their deficit.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble will brief lawmakers today on steps he may take to support the Greek government as it braces for a wave of strikes protesting deficit-reduction plans.

“Reassurance has arrived,” said Philipp Musil, a fund manager at Constantia Privatbank AG in Vienna, who helps oversee about $13 billion. “A comment from a decision maker has long been awaited to show that Greece will not be left alone. It’s a beginning but further steps will have to follow because Greece is not the only problem in Europe.”

Olli Rehn, the European Union’s new economic affairs commissioner, said yesterday support for Greece will be discussed in the coming days. Michael Meister, a German legislator from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, said lawmakers in that country are considering financial assistance.

Soros ‘Confident’

Billionaire investor George Soros, who made $1 billion in 1992 correctly betting against the British pound, said he is “confident” Greece will be able to remain in the euro region.

U.S. stocks yesterday rallied, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average back above 10,000. Futures on the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.2 percent today. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.3 percent as a government report showed Japan’s machinery orders climbed.

Greece’s ASE Index surged as much as 4.7 percent today. National Bank of Greece, the country’s biggest lender, jumped 7 percent to 14.76 euros. EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA, the second- largest, rallied 7.3 percent to 6.01 euros.

Fortis, the insurer that held a combined 18.2 billion euros of Greek, Spanish, Portugese and Italian government bonds on June 30, rallied 5.2 percent to 2.54 euros. The stock was upgraded to “buy” from “hold” at Royal Bank of Scotland, which said more European Union support for Greece could “trigger a relief rally” in the shares.

ICAP Jumps

Banco Comercial Portugues surged 3.9 percent to 77.3 cents. Bank Millennium SA, the Polish unit of the Portuguese lender, said fourth-quarter profit rose as it increased fee income and reduced employment.

ICAP Plc jumped 4 percent to 317 pence. The world’s biggest broker of transactions between banks was raised to “buy” from “neutral” at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. after the shares plunged 21 percent last week.

Vestas Wind Systems A/S rose 1.7 percent to 295.70 kroner. The world’s biggest maker of wind turbines recorded fourth- quarter net income of 315 million euros ($433.7 million), compared with a 280 million-euro median estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Marine Harvest ASA added 2.8 percent to 5.31 kroner. The world’s largest salmon farmer expects the first quarter to be “good,” Chief Executive Officer Aase Aulie Michelet said. The company posted a fourth-quarter profit of 520 million kroner ($88 million). Analysts had estimated a profit of 266 million kroner.

ArcelorMittal Declines

ArcelorMittal slid 6 percent to 26.87 euros. The world’s largest steelmaker said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell 24 percent to $2.13 billion, compared with an average analyst estimate of $2.18 billion.

Renewable Energy Corp. ASA tumbled 19 percent to 28.10 kroner, a record low. The Norwegian maker of solar-energy components expects lower earnings in the first quarter than a year earlier after posting an unexpected loss at the end of last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniela Silberstein in Zurich at dsilberstei2@bloomberg.net.