European stocks resumed their six- month advance before a report that may show German investor confidence increased to the highest level in more than three years. Asian shares fluctuated and U.S. index futures were little changed a year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Air France-KLM Group climbed 4.7 percent after Bank of America Corp. recommended the shares. BG Group Plc and Repsol YPF SA added more than 1.8 percent as the two companies and Petroleo Brasileiro SA found another deposit of oil and natural gas in Brazil’s Santos Basin. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index advanced for the eighth time in nine days, gaining 0.3 percent at 8:15 a.m. in London. The regional index’s 53 percent rise since March 9 pushed valuations to 46.8 times the profits of its companies at the end of last week, the most expensive level in more than six years, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Stoxx 600 lost as much as 44 percent from the failure of Lehman through March 9, and is still 14 percent below its level before the New York-based firm filed for bankruptcy. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.1 percent after earlier falling as much as 0.2 percent today, as five stocks advanced for every four that dropped. LG Chem Ltd., South Korea’s biggest chemicals maker, climbed 9.2 percent on speculation it may sell its batteries to Volkswagen AG. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in December lost less than 0.1 percent. The gauge advanced 0.6 percent yesterday to the highest close since Oct. 6 as utilities, industrial companies and financial firms climbed. ZEW, Lehman The ZEW Center for European Economic Research will say its index of investor and analyst expectations increased to 60 from 56.1 in August, according to the median of 39 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. That would be the highest reading since April 2006. ZEW releases the report, which aims to predict developments six months ahead, at 11 a.m. in Mannheim today. Lehman’s bankruptcy filing exacerbated the credit crunch and helped drag the global economy into its worst slowdown since World War II. Losses from the crisis at the world’s biggest financial institutions since the start of 2007 have climbed to more than $1.6 trillion. The Federal Reserve in March authorized $1.45 trillion in purchases of mortgage-backed securities and other housing debt this year to help stimulate credit markets. The central bank decided last month to taper its $300 billion program buying U.S. Treasuries through October while debating a similar move with mortgage-backed securities. Libor, TED Spread Bond-market yields suggest the Fed is accomplishing its goal. The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, for three month dollar loans fell to a record low of 0.295 percent yesterday. It was as high as 4.82 percent in October following the Lehman collapse. The difference between what banks and the Treasury pay to borrow money for three months, the so-called TED spread, narrowed to 0.16 percentage point from 2008’s high of 4.64 percentage points, also in October. The Obama administration’s auto trade-in program probably spurred the biggest gain in retail sales in more than three years last month, economists said before a Commerce Department report due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington today. Total sales climbed 1.9 percent, the most since January 2006, after a 0.1 percent drop in July, according to the median of 73 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Excluding automobiles, sales probably rose 0.4 percent. A separate report may show manufacturing in the New York region posted its first back-to-back monthly expansion since January 2008. Air France, Repsol Air France-KLM climbed 4.7 percent to 12.05 euros after Bank of America raised its recommendation on the shares to “buy” from “neutral.” BG Group added 1.8 percent to 1,129 pence and Repsol gained 2 percent to 18.34 euros after the discovery of the oil and natural-gas deposit. The find was made after a fourth well was drilled in the block, Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, said in a statement. The block, in the so-called pre- salt region, also contains the Carioca, Guara and Iguacu fields, where Petrobras has already reported the existence of oil. ArcelorMittal climbed 2.5 percent to 28.08 euros after Citigroup Inc. raised the world’s biggest steelmaker to “buy” from “hold.”

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