European stocks rose for a sixth day

European stocks rose for a sixth day, their longest winning streak this year, as companies from ING Groep NV to Societe Generale SA posted profit that beat estimates, and a report showed Chinese exports surged last month. U.S. index futures and Asian shares also advanced.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.3 percent to 330.57 at 8:54 a.m. in London. The benchmark has risen 4.1 percent since Feb. 4 as investors assessed when the Federal Reserve will next slow its monthly bond-buying program. The gauge retreated 5.5 percent from its six-year high on Jan. 22 through Feb. 4 amid sell-off in emerging-market currencies.

In China, the General Administration of Customs said exports jumped 10.6 percent in January from a year earlier. That compared with the median projection of economists in a Bloomberg survey for a gain of 0.1 percent. Imports rose 10 percent, exceeding the 4 percent advance that economists had predicted.

In the U.K., the Bank of England publishes its quarterly economic outlook, with new forecasts for growth and inflation, at 10:30 a.m. in London. Data last month showed the U.K.’s jobless rate slid to 7.1 percent in the three months through November, nearing the 7 percent threshold at which Governor Mark Carney has said policy makers will consider increasing interest rates. Monetary Policy Committee members said last month they “saw no immediate need to raise bank rate even if the 7 percent unemployment threshold were to be reached in the near future.”

ING gained 3.1 percent to 10.48 euros. The Dutch lender posted fourth-quarter net income of 539 million euros ($735 million), exceeding the 254 million-euro average projection of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Earnings at ING Bank more than tripled. Underlying net income rose 22 percent in 2013 to 3.26 billion euros, ING said.

Societe Generale added 3 percent to 45.59 euros. France’s second-largest bank posted fourth-quarter net income of 322 million euros as earnings climbed at its French and Russian consumer-lending units. Analysts on average had forecast 163 million euros of profit. The lender posted a loss of 471 million euros in the year-earlier period.

Heineken climbed 3.4 percent to 48.69 euros. The world’s third-biggest brewer said it expects volumes will grow in Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Latin America this year. Net income before some items fell 4.6 percent to 1.59 billion euros in 2013, according to a statement.

FTSE 100 6,687.38 +14.72 +0.22%

CAC 40 4,305.98 +22.66 +0.53%

DAX 9,564.08 +85.31 +0.90%