Europe Index Futures Drop Before Manufacturing, Services Reports
Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) — European stock-index futures fell, after the Stoxx Europe 600 Index posted its biggest two-day rally in almost 16 months, as investors awaited data that may show euro-area manufacturing contracted. U.S. index futures were little changed, while Asian shares dropped.
Michelin & Cie. may move after Europe’s biggest tiremaker reported a larger-than-expected quarterly sales drop and said it will sell fewer products this year than previously estimated. Gemalto NV might be active as third-quarter revenue disappointed analysts. Pernod Ricard SA may move after its full-year profit- growth forecast missed estimates. Credit Suisse Group AG and Nokia Oyj might move after reporting third-quarter profit that exceeded predictions.
Futures on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index expiring in December dropped 0.7 percent to 2,975 at 7:19 a.m. in London. The Stoxx 600 rebounded 2.9 percent in the past two days, paring its losses since a six-year high in June to 6.8 percent. Contracts on the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index declined 0.5 percent today. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.1 percent, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.3 percent.
European equities have led a rout that erased as much as $5.5 trillion from the value of shares worldwide amid speculation that the European Central Bank’s stimulus measures will not be enough to spur growth. Investors are analyzing economic data to gauge the health of the recovery after the International Monetary Fund said this month that the region risks falling back into recession.
Output Reports
Preliminary reports at 9 a.m. London time may show factory output in the euro area contracted in October for the first time in 16 months, while services activity expanded at the slowest pace since January, economists predicted.
A separate report from the European Commission at 4 p.m. in Brussels may show euro-area consumer confidence declined in October to an eight-month low.
Michelin might be active after saying third-quarter sales dropped 4.6 percent to 4.89 billion euros ($6.18 billion), lower than the 5.01 billion euros projected by analysts. Annual volume growth will be 1 percent to 2 percent, Michelin projected, down from an earlier forecast of 3 percent growth.
Gemalto, a developer of software and chips that make transactions more secure, may move. Sales for the third quarter were 626 million euros, less than the 657 million average analyst projection compiled by Bloomberg.
Pernod Ricard may be active. The world’s second-biggest distiller said annual profit from recurring operations will increase 1 percent to 3 percent. That compares with last year’s growth of 2 percent and is less than the 4.1 percent growth predicted by analysts.
Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse might move. Switzerland’s second-biggest bank said third-quarter profit more than doubled on higher revenue from trading fixed-income products. Net income rose to 1.03 billion Swiss francs ($1.08 billion) from 454 million francs a year ago. That exceeded the 809 million-francs projected by analysts.
Nokia, which sold its mobile-phone business to Microsoft Corp. last year, may be active. Third-quarter profit excluding some items rose to 9 euro cents a share from 6 cents a year earlier. Analysts had predicted 6 cents on average. Sales increased 13 percent to 3.3 billion euros, more than the 3 billion-euro estimate.
Unilever might move after the maker of Dove soaps said underlying sales rose 2.1 percent in the third quarter. Analysts had predicted growth of 3.9 percent. Total revenue of 12.2 billion euros also missed estimates for the period as it included a negative currency effect. Unilever forecast difficult market conditions for the rest of the year
To contact the reporter on this story: Sofia Horta e Costa in London at shortaecosta@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecile Vannucci at cvannucci1@bloomberg.net Alan Soughley
