STOCK MARKET WATCH - Thursday, 26 January 2012

[Ghost Dog]

27. European Stocks Climb on Fed’s Rate Outlook

European stocks advanced after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled it may keep interest rates low through 2014 and a report indicated Greece is making progress in talks for a debt-swap deal. U.S. index futures and Asian shares also climbed.

Commodity shares led gains, with Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) adding at least 3 percent. Petropavlovsk Plc (POG) rallied 8.3 percent after reporting a 24 percent increase in 2011 gold production. Logitech International SA (LOGN), the world’s biggest maker of computer mice, declined 13 percent after cutting its forecasts for sales and operating income.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.8 percent to 256.92 at 10:34 a.m. in London. Stocks rose after Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke made a case for a third round of asset purchases. The benchmark gauge has rallied 5.1 percent so far this year amid signs that the U.S. economy is recovering and speculation that the euro area will contain its debt crisis...

... Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in March increased 0.3 percent, after erasing a loss of as much as 0.3 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1 percent.

/... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-26/european-stock-index-futures-rise-on-fed-s-rate-outlook-ericsson-may-move.html