European Stocks Climb After Weekly Gain; Novartis Gains
European stocks rose, after the biggest weekly gain in more than a month, as investors awaited economic data out of Europe and America later this week. U.S. stock-index futures and Asian shares climbed.
Novartis AG advanced 2.8 percent after the Swiss drugmaker said the last phase of a clinical trial showed a treatment for chronic heart failure helped patients live longer. Drillisch AG added 2.4 percent after a report that the provider of phone services may pay a special dividend or buy back shares.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.6 percent to 335.9 at 8:14 a.m. in London. The gauge rose 1.8 percent last week amid better-than-forecast confidence data from Europe to the U.S. It has fallen 0.6 percent this month, paring the quarter’s gain to 2.3 percent, amid tension between Russia and the West over Ukraine’s Crimea region. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.4 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.9 percent.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen speaks in Chicago today as investors await payroll data due April 4 to assess the outlook for U.S. interest rates. Separate reports this week may show that manufacturing in the the world’s largest economy expanded further this month, while factory orders probably rebounded in February, according to economists’ forecasts in Bloomberg News surveys.
ECB Rate
On April 3, the European Central Bank will probably maintain its key interest rate at a record low of 0.25 percent, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
In Germany, a report showed that retail sales rose 1.3 percent last month after a revised 1.7 percent gain in January. Economists in a Bloomberg News survey had forecast a 0.5 percent drop for February.
Novartis gained 2.8 percent to 74.50 Swiss francs. The company ended the drug trial early as the results showed patients treated with it lived longer without being hospitalized for heart failure than those who received standard treatment. Novartis will ask global regulators for marketing approval for the drug.
Drillisch rose 2.4 percent to 26.23 euros. Chief Executive Officer Paschalis Choulidis told Welt am Sonntag the company may pay a special dividend or buy back shares if it doesn’t make acquisitions by 2015.
(By Corinne Gretler)
Source: bloomberg
