European stocks including Michelin & Cie. and Ericsson AB rose as oil prices retreated for a second session, easing concern that record energy costs will curb economic growth. ``Investors are thinking about how the economy would perform if there wouldn't be such a high oil price,'' Roger Sit, a fund manager who helps oversee $500 million in international equities at Sit Investment Associates in Minneapolis, said yesterday. BP Plc, Europe's largest oil company, slipped as its quarterly profit before some costs fell below analysts' expectations. Insurers gained after Converium Holding AG posted a lower-than expected quarterly loss.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index added 0.1 percent to 2641.59 at 8:45 a.m. in London. The Stoxx 600 also gained 0.1 percent, with two stocks rising for each one that fell. The Euro Stoxx 50 index for the 12 countries using the euro rose 0.2 percent. All three benchmarks recovered from their worst drop since Aug. 6 yesterday. Crude oil futures have shed 1.8 percent in the last two sessions in New York after Norway's government intervened to end a labor conflict that threatened output from the world's third- biggest exporter. The futures, up 67 percent this year, were down 0.7 percent today at $54.15 a barrel. Michelin, Europe's largest tiremaker, gained 2.1 percent to 41.18 euros. Ericsson, the biggest maker of mobile-phone networks, added 2 percent to 20.2 kronor.
BP, WPP
BP, based in London, fell 0.9 percent to 532.5 pence after it said third-quarter pro-forma profit excluding some items rose to $3.94 billion. The company was expected to report that earnings on that basis increased 51 percent to $4.17 billion, according to the median forecast of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Estimates ranged from $4.07 billion to $4.6 billion. WPP Group Plc, the world's second-largest advertising company, jumped 1.6 percent to 532 pence. It said third-quarter revenue rose 3.8 percent to 1.068 billion pounds ($1.97 billion) as clients in the U.S. and Asia spent more on ads. Sales were expected to rise 2.4 percent to 1.054 billion pounds, according to the median of eight analysts' estimates in a survey by Bloomberg News. The advertising industry may grow between 2 percent and 3 percent next year, WPP Chief Executive Martin Sorrell said.
Insurance stocks were the best performing group among 18 industries on the Stoxx 600. Zurich Financial Services AG, Switzerland's largest insurer, added 2.3 percent to 170.8 francs. Munich Re, the world's biggest insurer, added 1.9 percent to 74.24 euros. Converium, the Swiss reinsurer that has lost three-quarters of its market value since reporting a reserve shortfall in July, rose after posting a lower-than-expected quarterly loss. Converium added 2.2 percent to 8.35 francs. The third- quarter net loss was $116.3 million, compared with a year-earlier profit of $44.3 million, the Zug-based company said. The median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a loss of $137 million. ///www.bloomberg.com