Stocks rose in Europe and Asia as investors speculated higher metals and power prices will lift earnings for commodity producers and utilities and that takeovers will increase. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index erased its 2008 loss, while Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures advanced, Bloomberg reports.
Anglo American Plc led gains by mining companies as gold reached a three-week high and Citigroup Inc. recommended the shares. E.ON AG climbed as power prices reached a record. Yahoo! Inc. rose in Germany after Microsoft Corp. said it revived the possibility of a deal, while Enodis Plc advanced in London as Manitowoc Co. raised its offer for the catering-gear maker. Falling profit and sales at stockbroker Collins Stewart Plc weighed on financial shares.
The MSCI World Index added 0.3% to 1,559.83 at 1:31 p.m. in London as nine of the 10 industry groups increased. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.5%. Futures on the S&P 500 increased less than 0.1%.
“We’re starting to see merger and acquisition activity,’ and that builds confidence in stocks,” says Jacques Porta, who helps manage $180 million at Ofivalmo Patrimoine in Paris. “Investors have been too negative. Earnings have been good. I’m reasonably optimistic.”
Raw-material and energy stocks are the only two industry groups that have posted gains this year in the MSCI World gauge of 23 developed markets. They are also the best performers in emerging markets as record-breaking rallies in oil, coal and soybeans boosted equities from Rio de Janeiro to Moscow.