European stocks are set to rise for a fourth straight session on Wednesday, buoyed by positive sentiment across Asia and a rally on Wall Street overnight. That said, a little bit of volatility may prevail as traders look forward to the U.S ADP employment report for clues on economic recovery, ahead of Friday's crucial jobs report.
In Europe, an index measuring consumer confidence in the United Kingdom rose in January, even as consumers became more wary about spending, the results of a survey from the Nationwide Building Society revealed, posting a score of 73. That beat analyst expectations for a score of 70 following the revised 70 in December. It was also sharply higher than the score of 39 posted a year earlier.
Separately, the British Retail Consortium said that an index measuring overall shop price inflation in the United Kingdom was up 2.3 percent in January compared to the previous month. That was in line with analyst expectations following the 2.2 percent monthly gain in December. Food inflation slowed to 2.9 percent in January from 3.7 percent in December, the data showed, while non-food inflation accelerated to 1.9 percent in January from 1.4 percent in December.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England will begin its two-day monetary policy committee meeting on Wednesday. The BOE is expected to leave its key interest rate unchanged at a record-low 0.50 percent. Governor Mervyn King recently warned that inflation will probably increase above 3 percent in the first half of 2010.
Asian stocks rose for a second day Wednesday, led by commodities and technology companies, boosted by the overnight strong close on Wall Street on encouraging economic data. After climbing abouve $77 a barrel on Tuesday, crude oil futures are trading mostly unchanged in Asian trading today.
On Wall Street, stocks rose sharply on Tuesday, with buying interest in the markets coming amid a modest recovery in pending home sales data. The major averages rallied for a second straight session, moving further away of last week's two-month closing lows. The Dow rose 1.09%, the Nasdaq gained 0.87% and the S&P 500 added 1.3%.
In domestic corporate news, construction giant Vinci SA said its revenue fell 4.5% in the fourth quarter to 8.46 billion euros from 8.86 billion euros a year earlier.
Paris-headquartered game developer Gameloft posted a 11 percent rise in 2009 consolidated sales, mainly due to a jump in the company's iPhone game sales, which grew 231% year-over-year.
French oil firm Maurel & Prom SA said its 2009 revenue almost doubled to 183.2 million euros, boosted by a rise in oil production from the Onal and Omko fields in Gabon.
Europe's largest carmaker Volkswagen AG reported U.S. sales of 18,019 vehicles in January, a 41.4 percent increase over January 2009.
Daimler AG reported that its January month U.S sales for the Mercedes-Benz Cars division, Mercedes-Benz and smart combined, grew 26.4% to 15,436 units from 12,209 units a year ago.
Life and disability insurer Unum Group said its fourth-quarter profit quadrupled, mainly on the absence of a $257 million investment loss recorded in the prior-year quarter. Reported earnings of Unum came in above consensus estimates, while revenues fell short.
The European markets rose for the third day on Tuesday, as mining stocks rallied on firmer metals prices and the Reserve Bank of Australia's unexpected decision to keep interest rates on hold.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European blue chips closed 0.90% higher, while the narrower DJ Stoxx 50 index rose 0.86%. Around Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index rose 0.68%, France's CAC 40 index gained 1.33% and Germany's DAX index added 0.98%.
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