FRANKFURT, May 19 (Reuters) - European stock index futures rose early on
Tuesday, pointing to a firmer start in line with U.S. and Asian equity market
trends, ahead of U.S. building permits and housing starts data due at 1230 GMT.
At 0625 GMT, futures for the Eurostoxx 50, Germany's DAX and the French CAC 40 were up between 0.8 and 1.2 percent. Financial spreadbetters expected Britain's FTSE 100 to open 22 to 31 points, or as much as 0.7 percent, higher.
'We expect a higher opening in Europe,' said Heino Ruland, analyst at Ruland Research. 'Later on investors will focus on housing market data in the United States,' he said.
U.S. stocks rallied on Monday, the Dow Jones closing 2.9 percent higher, the S&P 500 up 3.0 percent and the Nasdaq adding 3.1 percent.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed up 2.4 percent at 859.88 points on Monday, leaving the index, which tumbled 45 percent in 2008, up 3 percent this year.
'The housing starts and housing permit data will provide an indication of possible bottoming tendencies in the U.S. construction sector,' German bank Helaba said in a research note.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0625 GMT-----------------------
LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 909.71 3.04 % 26.83
NIKKEI 9,290.29 2.78 % 251.60
MSCI ASIA EX-JP 379.66 2.76 % 10.18
EUR/USD 1.3551 -0.01 % -0.0002
USD/JPY 96.39 0.17 % 0.1600
10-YR US TSY YLD 3.234 -
0.00
10-YR BUND YLD 3.424 -
0.05
SPOT GOLD $921.65 0.43 % $4.45
US CRUDE $59.95 1.56 % $0.92
* Wall St gains as Lowe's lifts mood on econmy
* Nikkei up 2.8 pct on sharply weaker yen, econ hopes
* Asian shares hit 7-month highs; oil ast $59n
* Oil pauses at $59 after six-month high settlement
* Yen dips after fall on improved risk appetite
* Gold rises a day after retreat, U.S. data eyed
* Treasuries steady to lower in Asia before housing data
EUROPEAN COMPANY NEWS
UBS
Singapore Investment Corp (GIC), which has ploughed billions into UBS, told Reuters it was holding on to its investments.
HSBC
China's cabinet has given approval to HSBC and the Bank of East Asia to issue yuan bonds in Hong Kong, the official Financial News reported.
BARCLAYS
Bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc is seeking court permission to look into whether it was adequately compensated by Barclays for its brokerage unit, according to court documents.
FIAT
The carmaker's CEO Sergio Marchionne is due to meet a German trade union leader on Tuesday as part of Fiat's effort to link-up with General Motors unit Opel.
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL
The oil group faces renewed opposition to its investments in Canada's carbon-intense oil sands, the Financial Times reported.
ERICSSON
Japanese electronics maker Sony Corp said its loss-making mobile phone joint venture with Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, will likely seek at least 100 million euros in funds by March.
GLAXOSMITHKLINE
The drugmaker has agreed a 244 million pound strategic alliance with Oxford BioTherapeutics which will see the pair discover, develop and commercialise antibodies for cancer treatment, The Times said.
NOVARTIS
Novartis has assumed worldwide rights to a combination respiratory medicine it was developing with Schering-Plough Corp, the two drugmakers said.
COLONIAL
The Spanish property firm is negotiating the sale of a major Madrid shopping center owned by its Riofisa unit to Dutch fund Corio for 125 million euros, Expansion newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources close to the deal.
VALEO
Barclays now owns 5.07 percent of the capital of the French car parts group and 4.88 percent of voting rights, the French AMF stock market regulator said.
FERROVIAL
British airports operator BAA, owned by the Spanish infrastructure company, is to appeal an order by competition regulators to sell three of its airports, including two in London, saying the ruling did not take into account current economic conditions.
CFE
The Belgian building company reported stable first-quarter turnover and said its order book remains strong despite the cancelling of a dredging contract in Dubai and that debt is under control.
ARCANDOR
The German retailer's CEO Karl-Gerhard Eick told the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung he opposed peer Metro's proposal to combine the two companies' department store chains.
INFINEON
The chipmaker said its convertible bond issue, which generated proceeds of 181.5 million euros, has been oversubscribed several times.
(Reporting by Peter Starck) Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE FACTORS/ (peter.starck@thomsonreuters.com; +49 69 7565 1217; Reuters Messaging: peter.starck.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
At 0625 GMT, futures for the Eurostoxx 50, Germany's DAX and the French CAC 40 were up between 0.8 and 1.2 percent. Financial spreadbetters expected Britain's FTSE 100 to open 22 to 31 points, or as much as 0.7 percent, higher.
'We expect a higher opening in Europe,' said Heino Ruland, analyst at Ruland Research. 'Later on investors will focus on housing market data in the United States,' he said.
U.S. stocks rallied on Monday, the Dow Jones closing 2.9 percent higher, the S&P 500 up 3.0 percent and the Nasdaq adding 3.1 percent.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed up 2.4 percent at 859.88 points on Monday, leaving the index, which tumbled 45 percent in 2008, up 3 percent this year.
'The housing starts and housing permit data will provide an indication of possible bottoming tendencies in the U.S. construction sector,' German bank Helaba said in a research note.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0625 GMT-----------------------
LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 909.71 3.04 % 26.83
NIKKEI 9,290.29 2.78 % 251.60
MSCI ASIA EX-JP 379.66 2.76 % 10.18
EUR/USD 1.3551 -0.01 % -0.0002
USD/JPY 96.39 0.17 % 0.1600
10-YR US TSY YLD 3.234 -
0.00
10-YR BUND YLD 3.424 -
0.05
SPOT GOLD $921.65 0.43 % $4.45
US CRUDE $59.95 1.56 % $0.92
* Wall St gains as Lowe's lifts mood on econmy
* Nikkei up 2.8 pct on sharply weaker yen, econ hopes
* Asian shares hit 7-month highs; oil ast $59n
* Oil pauses at $59 after six-month high settlement
* Yen dips after fall on improved risk appetite
* Gold rises a day after retreat, U.S. data eyed
* Treasuries steady to lower in Asia before housing data
EUROPEAN COMPANY NEWS
UBS
Singapore Investment Corp (GIC), which has ploughed billions into UBS, told Reuters it was holding on to its investments.
HSBC
China's cabinet has given approval to HSBC and the Bank of East Asia to issue yuan bonds in Hong Kong, the official Financial News reported.
BARCLAYS
Bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc is seeking court permission to look into whether it was adequately compensated by Barclays for its brokerage unit, according to court documents.
FIAT
The carmaker's CEO Sergio Marchionne is due to meet a German trade union leader on Tuesday as part of Fiat's effort to link-up with General Motors unit Opel.
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL
The oil group faces renewed opposition to its investments in Canada's carbon-intense oil sands, the Financial Times reported.
ERICSSON
Japanese electronics maker Sony Corp said its loss-making mobile phone joint venture with Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, will likely seek at least 100 million euros in funds by March.
GLAXOSMITHKLINE
The drugmaker has agreed a 244 million pound strategic alliance with Oxford BioTherapeutics which will see the pair discover, develop and commercialise antibodies for cancer treatment, The Times said.
NOVARTIS
Novartis has assumed worldwide rights to a combination respiratory medicine it was developing with Schering-Plough Corp, the two drugmakers said.
COLONIAL
The Spanish property firm is negotiating the sale of a major Madrid shopping center owned by its Riofisa unit to Dutch fund Corio for 125 million euros, Expansion newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources close to the deal.
VALEO
Barclays now owns 5.07 percent of the capital of the French car parts group and 4.88 percent of voting rights, the French AMF stock market regulator said.
FERROVIAL
British airports operator BAA, owned by the Spanish infrastructure company, is to appeal an order by competition regulators to sell three of its airports, including two in London, saying the ruling did not take into account current economic conditions.
CFE
The Belgian building company reported stable first-quarter turnover and said its order book remains strong despite the cancelling of a dredging contract in Dubai and that debt is under control.
ARCANDOR
The German retailer's CEO Karl-Gerhard Eick told the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung he opposed peer Metro's proposal to combine the two companies' department store chains.
INFINEON
The chipmaker said its convertible bond issue, which generated proceeds of 181.5 million euros, has been oversubscribed several times.
(Reporting by Peter Starck) Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE FACTORS/ (peter.starck@thomsonreuters.com; +49 69 7565 1217; Reuters Messaging: peter.starck.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.