European Stocks Climb Amid ECB Support Hope

By Peter Levring - Dec 8, 2011 3:12 PM GMT+0700

European stocks rose amid speculation the European Central Bank will announce measures to boost the economy as the region’s leaders meet to lay the foundations for a fiscal union. U.S. futures fluctuated and Asian shares fell.

The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.5 percent to 242.52 at 8:10 a.m. in London, halting a two-day decline. The gauge posted its biggest rally since November 2008 last week as central banks lowered the interest rate on dollar funding and China reduced its reserve ratio for banks.

“A rate cut of at least 25 basis points is expected from the ECB, but what may be more important is what will be said at the press conference,” said Robert Talbut, who helps oversee about $70 billion as chief investment officer at Royal London Asset Management Ltd. “We’re looking for words that the summit will bring forward early and significant additional policy from the ECB on bond buying. People will be hanging onto the words of any policy makers in the next 48 hours.”

The Stoxx 600 slipped 0.2 percent yesterday after Germany rejected combining the current and permanent euro-area rescue funds and expressed pessimism over the outcome of a two-day European Union summit that starts today in Brussels. The gauge posted its biggest rally since November 2008 last week as central banks lowered the interest rate on dollar funding and China reduced its reserve ratio for banks.

U.S., Asian Shares

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.1 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.6 percent after economic data from Japan and Australia signaled the global economy is slowing.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) retreated 0.7 percent after machinery orders fell 6.9 percent in October from September, missing the median forecast of a 0.5 percent gain by 27 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.3 percent as the nation’s employers cut 6,300 workers in November from the previous month, trailing the 10,000 extra jobs forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 22 economists.

ECB policy makers meeting in Frankfurt will cut the benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 1 percent, according to 53 of 58 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. They may also loosen collateral criteria to give banks greater access to cheap cash and offer longer-term loans, said three euro-area officials with knowledge of the deliberations.

ECB Rates

The ECB announces its rate decision at 1:45 p.m. in Frankfurt and President Mario Draghi holds a press conference 45 minutes later. European Union leaders will meet for dinner at 7.30 p.m. in Brussels for talks on a “comprehensive” solution to the region’s debt crisis that will continue tomorrow.

BNP Paribas (BNP) SA, the biggest French bank, advanced 1.6 percent to 33.51 euros. Results of tests from the European banking regulator released today will show French lenders’ capital shortfall shrank from the October estimate of 8.8 billion euros ($11.8 billion), a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Tesco Plc (TSCO) slipped 1.4 percent to 391.4 pence. The U.K.’s largest supermarket chain said a sales decline continued in the third quarter as cost-conscious Britons were weighed down by unemployment fears and rising fuel and food bills. Revenue at U.K. stores open at least a year fell 0.9 percent, excluding fuel and value-added tax, in the three months ended Nov. 26.

To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Levring in Copenhagen at plevring1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net