European stocks climbed, sending the Stoxx Europe 600 Index to a two-year high, after companies from Barclays Plc to Adecco SA posted better-than-estimated results. U.S. futures gained and Asian shares were little changed.

Barclays, Britain’s third-largest bank, added 2.9 percent after saying its capital ratio remained strong. Adecco advanced 4.4 percent after the staffing company posted a jump in third- quarter profit. Hermes International SCA soared 7 percent after the luxury-goods maker lifted its full-year sales forecast. Carlsberg A/S paced declining shares after the Danish brewer reported earnings that missed analysts’ estimates.
The Stoxx 600 gained 0.7 percent to 273.7 at 12:13 p.m. in London, taking the benchmark index to its highest level since Sept. 22, 2008. The gauge has climbed 18 percent since its low this year on May 25 as investors speculated that the U.S. Federal Reserve would start a second round of asset purchases.
“Corporate profitability continues to bounce back nicely,” said London-based Henk Potts, who helps oversee $248 billion as an equity strategist at Barclays Wealth. “Despite the rally, valuations still look undemanding.”
Some 141, or 61 percent, of the 232 companies on the Stoxx 600 that have announced results since Oct. 7 have beaten analyst estimates for per-share income, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In the U.S., 76 percent of Standard & Poor’s 500 Index companies have topped predictions in the period.
---------European stocks predictions
European stocks will rally 16 percent by the end of next year as growth in the global economy drives earnings, according to Deutsche Bank AG strategists. Easier lending conditions for banks and households will spur economic growth as the demand for credit increases more than estimated, strategists including London-based Gareth Evans wrote in a report Tuesday.
Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in December added 0.3 percent, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed, rising 0.1 percent.
Adecco increased 4.4 percent to 61.15 Swiss francs after reporting a 42 percent jump in third-quarter profit to 128 million euros ($178.6 million), helped by its purchase of U.S. staffing company MPS Group Inc. That beat the 109.6 million-euro average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Barclays gained 2.9 percent to 293.8 pence after saying its capital ratio remained “strong” even as quarterly profit declined 76 percent.
Barclays’s capital ratio “is a lot better than people will expect and should be taken really well by the market,” wrote Michael Helsby, an analyst at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research, who has a “buy” rating on the stock. The lender’s Core Tier 1 ratio remained at 10 percent, unchanged from the first half, Barclays said.
--------Hermes climbs
Hermes advanced 7 percent to 165.10 euros after the French luxury-goods maker in which LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA holds a stake raised its full-year revenue forecast as its third-quarter sales jumped 31 percent.
Revenue will climb about 15 percent in 2010, excluding currency swings, assuming that “solid” sales growth continues in the fourth quarter, revising an Aug. 31 forecast of 12 percent growth. Sales increased to 590.1 million euros from 452.1 million euros a year earlier.
Deutsche Post AG gained 3.4 percent to 13.70 euros after Europe’s largest postal service reported a quarterly profit of 226 million euros after a surge in cross-border shipments boosted revenue from freight. That compared with an 83 million- euro loss a year earlier and beat the average analyst estimate of 215 million euros.
-------------Swisscom, Carlsberg
Swisscom increased 2.1 percent to 420.20 francs after Switzerland’s largest phone company reported third-quarter net income of 536 million francs ($558.2 million), beating the average analyst estimate of 510.9 million francs.
Carlsberg dropped 4.6 percent to 566.50 kroner after the maker of Tuborg and Baltika beer reported third-quarter net income of 1.95 billion kroner ($364.9 million) amid “challenging” conditions in northern and western Europe.
That missed a 2.17 billion-krone average estimate of 18 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. So-called organic net revenue, which excludes the effect of acquisitions and disposals, grew 2 percent.
Corio NV lost 4.3 percent to 48.66 euros as Algemene Pensioen Groep NV sells 4.5 million shares at 48 euros each via an accelerated bookbuild process. JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the sole bookrunner for the share placing.
(Source: Bloomberg)