Europe stock-index futures advance amid global growth prospects
By Bloomberg
European stock-index futures gained, signaling equities may extend a two-month high, as investors look for indications that the global economic recovery is on track. U.S. stock-index futures were little changed and Asian shares rose.
Contracts on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index expiring next month added 0.2 percent to 3,217 at 7:03 a.m. in London. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index has jumped to its highest level since Sept. 22 as Mario Draghi said the European Central Bank may broaden its asset-buying program to include the purchase of government bonds, while China cut benchmark interest rates for the first time since 2012.
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in December declined less than 0.1 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.3 percent.
The Stoxx 600 increased 0.1 percent yesterday, paring gains as Deutsche Bundesbank President and ECB Governing Council member Jens Weidmann said the ECB will face legal obstacles to buying government debt. Debate about quantitative easing is distracting attention from the region’s “true problems” of generating economic growth, he said in Madrid. The equity benchmark has rallied 12 percent from its low in October, sending its valuation to the highest level since December 2009.
A final reading showed the German economy, Europe’s largest, expanded 0.1 percent in the third quarter, matching economists’ estimates. Separately, the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development releases the full edition of its Economic Outlook report today, including forecasts for the world’s largest economies.
U.S. Economy
Investors are also watching U.S. data to gauge whether the world’s largest economy can lead a global growth rebound. Commerce Department data at 8:30 a.m. in Washington may show the U.S. expanded at a slower rate in the third quarter than first estimated, economists predicted. A Conference Board release at 10 a.m. in New York will probably show consumer confidence climbed in November to a seven-year high.
Among companies that may move on corporate news today, ING Groep NV might be active after the Dutch lender said it will book a 320 million euro ($398 million) provision in the fourth quarter amid plans to cut 1,700 jobs in the next three years. Bayer AG could be active as people with knowledge of the matter said the German drugmaker is exploring the sale of its diabetes- device business.
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