European Stock Futures Advance on Fed Support; Nestle May Climb on Sales

Related News:Europe · France · Germany · U.K. & Ireland · Stocks .Want to save this for later? Add it to your Queue!
European Stock Futures Advance on Fed Support; Nestle May Climb on Sales
QBy Julie Cruz - Aug 10, 2011 2:37 PM GMT+0800 .

More
Business ExchangeBuzz up!DiggPrint Email ...European stock-index futures rose after the Federal Reserve said it’s prepared to keep interest rates low and use a range of tools to bolster the economy. Asian shares rallied while U.S. futures fell.

Nestle SA (NESN), the world’s largest food company, may climb after reporting sales that beat estimates. Commerzbank AG (CBK), Germany’s second-biggest lender, may advance after profit at the so-called core bank increased.

Futures on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index expiring in September rose 0.6 percent to 2,314 at 7:36 a.m. in London, while FTSE 100 Index (UKX) futures added 0.9 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rallied 2 percent and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures slipped 0.7 percent after the benchmark gauge for U.S. equities jumped the most since March 2009 yesterday.

The Fed’s “commitment to keep interest rates on hold for the next two years was clearly sufficient to send a signal to buyers to get back into the game,” said Cameron Peacock, a market analyst at IG Markets in Melbourne. “Many will be hoping that this starts to draw a line under the rout and attention can shift back to rebuilding global economic growth.”

The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index has declined 20 percent from this year’s high on Feb. 17, entering a bear market, on concern that Europe will fail to contain its sovereign-debt crisis and that the economic recovery is faltering in the U.S. The gauge rallied for the first time in eight days yesterday amid speculation the Fed will act to restore confidence in the markets.