KDDI Corp., Japan’s second-largest mobile-phone operator, jumped 5.8 percent after it was boosted to “outperform” by Credit Suisse Group AG. Nippon Meat Packers Inc., Japan’s biggest producer of ham and sausage, rose 6.6 percent after increasing its full-year profit forecast. Mitsubishi Estate Co., Japan’s No. 2 developer, gained 2.1 percent after CLSA Asia- Pacific Markets raised its share-price estimate. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., Japan’s second-largest publicly traded bank, gained 2.3 percent amid lenders’ reports of higher profits.
Most European stocks rose as better- than-estimated results from ArcelorMittal to Swedbank AB and Swatch Group AG outweighed China’s third increase in interest rates in four months.
ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, and Swedbank, Sweden’s largest bank by branches, gained at least 2 percent. Swatch rallied 5.8 percent after the world’s biggest watchmaker said profit increased 42 percent in 2010. UBS AG surged 4.3 percent as Switzerland’s largest bank attracted net new money from wealthy clients for a second straight quarter.
More than 73 percent of the 305 companies in the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index that reported results since Jan. 10 have topped per-share earnings projections, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In Europe, 57 percent beat forecasts, the data show
U.S. stocks rose, giving the Dow Jones Industrial Average the longest winning streak since July, as retail sales rebounded and as McDonald’s Corp. rallied after reporting higher-than-estimated monthly results.
McDonald’s jumped 3 percent, the most since May, after January same-store sales grew 5.3 percent. J.C. Penney Co. and Macy’s Inc. gained at least 2 percent as the International Council of Shopping Centers said weekly retail sales snapped four straight declines. A gauge of homebuilders in S&P indexes gained 2.1 percent as executives and economists predicted a bounce in demand. Urban Outfitters Inc. climbed 4.3 percent as Citigroup Inc. lifted its rating on the shares.
Earnings “have been much better than expected as a result of decent sales and much higher margins,” said Steven Neimeth, a money manager at SunAmerica Asset Management in Jersey City, New Jersey, which manages $9 billion. “These are early indications that the economy is gaining traction on recovery.”
U.S. stocks rose yesterday as takeover announcements and improving profits bolstered optimism, extending the S&P 500’s advance from a 12-year low in 2009 to 95 percent. Almost three- quarters of the companies in the S&P 500 that reported quarterly results since Jan. 10 have topped analysts’ projections for per- share profit
Earnings for S&P 500 companies rose 29 percent in 2010, the fastest growth since 1995, and will grow 15 percent this year, according to analyst estimates
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