European Stocks Climb as U.K. Manufacturing Tops Forecast

European stocks rose for the first time in a week as manufacturing in U.K. and Italy unexpectedly gained and euro-area governments moved to support Spanish banks. U.S. index futures advanced while Asian shares dropped.

ASML Holding NV (ASML) rallied 8.9 percent as Intel Corp. (INTC) agreed to invest as much as $4.1 billion in the maker of semiconductor equipment. Barclays Plc (BARC) added 2.1 percent after Chairman Marcus Agius said the bank’s former chief executive officer will forgo bonuses. Ipsen SA (IPN) plunged 10 percent after U.S. regulators put two of its clinical trials on hold.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) climbed 1 percent to 256.07 at 12:34 p.m. in London. The gauge has risen for five straight weeks, the longest winning streak since January, as the region’s policy makers eased repayment rules for Spanish banks and relaxed conditions for possible aid to Italy. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures increased 0.3 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.1 percent.

“The data out of both Italy and U.K. have been better than expected,” said Markus Huber, head of German sales at ETX Trading in London. “The market has been starved of any kind of good news, so this is welcome.”

U.K. factory output rose 1.2 percent in May from the previous month, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median forecast of 26 economists in a Bloomberg survey was for a decline of 0.1 percent. Overall industrial output increased 1 percent.

By Namitha Jagadeesh
Read More: Bloomberg