European Futures Rise as Leaders Reach Greek Deal; Metals Climb

Bloomberg News

European Futures Rise as Leaders Reach Greek Deal; Metals Climb

European equity futures and metals climbed, while the euro reached a three-month high against the yen after Greece won a second rescue package. Asian stocks slid, led by consumer companies.

Euro Stoxx 50 Index futures added 0.2 percent as of 7:01 a.m. in London. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.2 percent, while Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures advanced 0.5 percent. The euro climbed 0.5 percent to 105.96 yen, reversing an earlier drop. Australia's dollar fell against 16 major peers after the central bank said it has scope to ease policy. Ten-year Treasury yields rose three basis points to 2.03 percent. Copper gained 1 percent and oil traded near a nine-month high.

European finance ministers awarded Greece 130 billion euros ($173 billion) in aid by tapping into European Central Bank profits and coaxing investors into providing more debt relief to shield the region from a default. The global economy faces an "uphill struggle" as it seeks to recover from a financial crisis, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping said yesterday.

"You can't really go out and say that we've solved the whole euro-zone debt crisis and this won't come back to bother us again," Manpreet Gill, a senior investment strategist at Standard Chartered Plc, said in a Bloomberg Television interview from Singapore. "These issues will still simmer over time."

U.S. Futures S&P 500 futures expiring in March climbed to 1,367.40. U.S. markets will reopen today after a public holiday yesterday. The U.S. government is set to sell debt totaling $99 billion this week, starting with a $35 billion auction of two-year securities today.

Data later today may show a measure of euro-area consumer confidence improved to minus 20.1 this month from minus 20.7 in January, according to the median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey.

Asian stocks have climbed for the past nine weeks, pushing the MSCI Asia-Pacific gauge to a 12 percent rally this year. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.8 percent, the Hang Seng Index added 0.1 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.7 percent.

Mazda Motor Corp., the most unprofitable among Japan's eight biggest carmakers, slumped 10 percent. The company is preparing a share sale to raise capital by as much 100 billion yen ($1.25 billion), NHK Television reported, without citing anyone. Mazda said in a filing that no decision has been made.

Airlines Drop

Korean Air Lines Co., the nation's biggest carrier, tumbled 6.4 percent after Deutsche Bank AG told clients to sell the shares, citing a weak cargo market and high fuel prices. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. and Air China Ltd. lost at least 1.8 percent in Hong Kong.

Oil futures for March delivery, which expire today, advanced as much as $2.20 to $105.44 in intra-day trading, the highest since May 5.

Iran's decision to halt sales of crude oil to French and British buyers to preempt a European Union ban on imports will have "no impact on Britain's energy security or supplies," said U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague. The EU has agreed to stop purchases of Iranian crude from July 1 in an attempt to curb the Persian Gulf country's nuclear program.

The Australian dollar fell 0.2 percent to $1.0733. Minutes of the central bank's Feb. 7 meeting suggested board members are prepared to ease policy if demand were to "weaken materially." The Markit iTraxx Australia index, a gauge of the nation's corporate bond risk, fell 2.25 basis points to 141.75, according to Deutsche Bank AG.