Stocks Advance in Europe, Asia as Copper Rises on China

June 2, 2014

Frankfurt (June 2)  Stocks gained in Europe and Asia while copper advanced as manufacturing in Chinaexpanded at the fastest pace in five months. The euro weakened after European industrial growth slowed.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.3 percent at 7:31 a.m. in New York as the MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.5 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures advanced less than 0.1 percent. Copper rallied 1.2 percent while the euro depreciated against seven of its 16 major counterparts.

Growth in Chinese manufacturing added to evidence that the government’s measures to counter the slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy are gaining traction. A report showed factory output slowed more than initially estimated last month in the 18-nation euro currency region. Economists forecast the European Central Bank will cut the deposit rate to less than zero when policy makers meet on June 5.

“With European companies’ big exposure to the Chinese market, investors are carefully watching the data out of China,” said Kai Fachinger, a fund manager at RobecoSAM AG in Zurich, which manages 3 billion euros ($4.1 billion). “Improving macro-economic data is supporting sentiment as investors wait to see what the ECB will do this week.”

China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 50.8 in May, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said yesterday in Beijing, compared with the 50.7 median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. April’s reading was 50.4, with numbers above 50 indicating expansion

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