European Stocks Rise as Credit Agricole Beats Forecasts

European stocks advanced for a seventh day as companies such as Credit Agricole SA posted better-than-expected earnings, outweighing cuts in profit forecasts from Salzgitter AG and Lanxess AG. U.S. index futures and Asian shares were little changed.

Credit Agricole (ACA) increased 1.4 percent after reporting that profit surged in the second quarter. InterContinental Hotels Group Plc rose 2.9 percent after posting an increase in first-half profit. Salzgitter, Germany's second-largest steelmaker, tumbled 10 percent after saying it expects a pretax loss of about 400 million euros ($530 million) this year.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.4 percent to 305.83 at 10:10 a.m. in London. The benchmark gauge rose every day last week, adding 1.8 percent in the period, as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said interest rates in the euro zone will remain low for an extended period. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures climbed less than 0.1 percent today. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.1 percent.

"The second-quarter corporate-reporting season is now beginning its slow glide-path down, with the overall picture having been that most companies managed to beat lowered expectations," Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Plc in London, wrote in an e-mail. "The attraction of equities as the investment destination of choice remains intact, given the ongoing loose and accommodative monetary policies in most developed economies."

Fisher Warns

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher, one of the most vocal critics of quantitative easing, warned investors not to rely on stimulus.

"Financial markets may have become too accustomed to what some have depicted as a Fed put," or the idea that the central bank will loosen credit after a market decline, Fisher said yesterday in a speech in Portland, Oregon.

Still, "markets continue to ponder the Federal Reserve's next move, with some speculation that next month's tapering of quantitative easing may slip back following the weaker than expected non-farms on Friday," Hunter said, referring to a U.S. report that showed employers added fewer workers in July than economists had forecast.

Credit Agricole increased 1.4 percent to 7.95 euros. France's third-largest bank by market value said profit surged in the second quarter after the sale of its unprofitable Greek unit. Net income jumped to 696 million euros from a restated 56 million euros a year earlier, the lender said in a spreadsheet posted today on its website. Earnings beat the 481.6 million-euro average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

InterContinental Profit

InterContinental Hotels rose 2.9 percent to 1,964 pence after the world's largest provider of hotel rooms reported first-half net income of $340 million, compared with $271 million a year earlier.

Royal DSM NV (DSM) added 5.4 percent to 55.49 euros. The Dutch chemical company posted second-quarter profit that beat analyst estimates after a $3.1 billion-acquisition spree and as it cut costs. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization jumped 19 percent to 345 million euros. That exceeded the 333 million-euro average estimate of 11 analysts.

Salzgitter slid 10 percent to 25.89 euros, its biggest decline since March 2009. The steelmaker expects a pretax loss of about 400 million euros this year amid a slump in demand due to the deterioration of the European economy. "The ongoing recession in many European countries has put pressure on the European steel industry in the form of a structural crisis," it said yesterday after the close of regular trading.

Lanxess Cuts

Lanxess AG, which has fallen about 30 percent since joining Germany's benchmark DAX index in September, retreated 3 percent to 45.11 euros after it cut its profit forecast for 2014 and predicted no recovery in second-half demand. The Cologne, Germany-based company said it won't achieve its Ebitda target for next year of 1.4 billion euros. It forecast earnings for this year of 700 million euros to 800 million euros.

Munich Re (MUV2), the world's biggest reinsurer, dropped 4.5 percent to 145.85 euros after it said second-quarter profit fell 35 percent, missing analysts' estimates, as claims arising from natural disasters rose. Net income dropped to 529 million euros from 808 million euros a year earlier, trailing the 557.1 million-euro average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS), a gold miner in Africa, declined 2.9 percent to 4,554 pence. Fresnillo Plc, the world's biggest primary silver producer, sank 7.2 percent to 962 pence after cutting its interim dividend by 68 percent from a year earlier because of a slump in precious-metal prices.

A gauge of commodity producers fell the most of the 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600.