European stocks rose for the first time in six days amid signs of a pickup in corporate takeovers. Chinese shares slumped as traders tested the limits of state support, while oil retreated for a fifth day.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.4 percent at 8:30 a.m. in London. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.4 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.7 percent. Oil slipped 0.4 percent in New York on concern a supply glut will persist, while the dollar strengthened at least 0.2 percent against the yen and the euro.
Deal plans announced Tuesday in Europe’s pharmaceutical, utility and insurance industries helped revive investor confidence after a rout this week in Chinese markets that had spurred concern over a slowdown in Asia’s biggest economy. Data on U.S. home prices and consumer confidence are due Tuesday as the Federal Reserve begins a two-day policy meeting.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc advanced 5 percent after agreeing to buy Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH’s Roxane business for $2.65 billion in cash and stock. Melrose Industries Plc climbed 15 percent after saying it will sell its Elster business to Honeywell International Inc.
Zurich Insurance Group is evaluating a potential offer for RSA Insurance Group Plc in what would be its biggest takeover since 2000. The British insurer’s shares surged as much as 14 percent.
Earnings Season
Meanwhile, Europe’s earnings season is in full swing. Orange SA and Statoil ASA advanced at least 2.7 percent after posting second-quarter profit that exceeded projections. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose 0.6 percent before data on second-quarter economic growth.
Trading in Shanghai’s stock market was volatile, with the benchmark index closing at the lowest level in almost three weeks. The China Securities Regulatory Commission will continue to “stabilize” the market and “prevent systemic risk,” spokesman Zhang Xiaojun said in a statement on its website late Monday.
“The worst time has passed, but we think there is a final leg for this correction” in China, Steve Yang, a strategist at UBS Group AG, said in phone interview from Shanghai. “Fundamentally, there is no reason for funds to come in and buy aggressively.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.4 percent. Japan’s Topix slid 0.5 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1 percent.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose less than 0.1 percent, following a 0.4 percent drop on Monday. The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries climbed about 3 basis points to 2.25 percent. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg put the odds for a September rate increase at 50 percent.
West Texas Intermediate dropped to $47.08 a barrel. Brent crude slid 1.2 percent after joining the U.S. benchmark in a bear market on Monday. Oil exports from southern Iraq rose to a record this month, the region’s oil marketing company said on Monday, while analysts in Bloomberg survey forecast U.S. crude stockpiles expanded for a second week through July 24.
source: Bloomberg
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