By Daniela Silberstein Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- European and Asian shares advanced as Abu Dhabi provided $10 billion to prevent a default by Dubai’s Nakheel PJSC. U.S. stock-index futures rose. HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc climbed at least 2.5 percent. London Stock Exchange Group Plc, whose largest shareholder is Borse Dubai Ltd., was headed for its biggest gain since April. Samsung C&T Corp., builder of the world’s tallest tower in Dubai, surged 3.3 percent as Abu Dhabi agreed to provide the money for Dubai’s financial support fund. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index advanced 0.8 percent to 247.06 at 9:20 a.m. in London. The benchmark gauge for European equities declined last week as Fitch Ratings downgraded Greece and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services cut its outlook for Spain, sparking concern there will be more debt-grade reductions. “Abu Dhabi is not going to accept any default and that’s a major statement,” Haissam Arabi, chief executive officer of Gulfmena Alternative Investments in Dubai, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “Abu Dhabi stepped in to rescue once again and this is something that we can now expect on an ongoing basis. This is big news.” The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.5 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in March added 0.5 percent. The benchmark gauge for U.S. equities climbed last week, overcoming concern that credit losses will rise, after data on jobless claims and retail sales signaled the economic recovery is strengthening. HSBC, Standard Chartered Abu Dhabi’s pledge will allow Dubai World’s Nakheel real- estate subsidiary to make $4.1 billion of payments on bonds that mature today. Markets tumbled last month as Dubai said it was starting talks with its lenders to restructure debt accumulated during the emirate’s six-year real-estate boom. Bank shares led the advance in Europe. HSBC, which had $15.9 billion in loans and advances to customers in the U.A.E. at the end of June, climbed 2.5 percent to 720.9 pence. Standard Chartered, the U.K. bank that gets most of its profit in emerging markets, rallied 5.4 percent to 1,591.5 pence. Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, the lender 70 percent- owned by the U.K. government, added 3.5 percent to 31.63 pence. LSE, the best performer in the Stoxx 600 today, surged 6.6 percent to 740 pence, poised for the biggest gain since April 16. Europe’s oldest independent bourse plunged 7.4 percent on Nov. 26 as Dubai’s plan to seek a “standstill” agreement on its debt rattled equity markets worldwide. Samsung C&T Samsung C&T climbed 3.3 percent to 49,500 won, paring some of its 14 percent slump since Nov. 25. Samsung C&T said on Nov. 27 it stopped work on a $350 million bridge in Dubai after Nakheel halted payments. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s largest bank by market value, declined 2.9 percent to 442 yen, after the country’s Tankan confidence survey showed companies reduced capital spending plans. Axa SA climbed 2.1 percent to 15.96 euros. AMP Ltd., Australia’s second-largest asset manager, and France’s biggest insurer raised their bid for Axa Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd. to A$12.9 billion ($11.8 billion) and gave the wealth manager a week to accept. Daimler AG increased 2.7 percent to 36.12 euros. The world’s second-biggest manufacturer of luxury cars expects to outpace growth in China’s overall vehicle market next year and said it will triple production capacity at a Beijing venture on rising sales and anticipated demand for a new Mercedes-Benz E- Class sedan. Remy Cointreau SA surged 3.2 percent to 37.15 euros after France’s second-largest liquor company was raised to “outperform” from “underperform” at Exane BNP Paribas. ‘Different Complexion’ The Stoxx 600 has climbed 56 percent since March 9 as central banks cut interest rates to record lows and governments worldwide committed about $12 trillion to revive the economy. The measure is valued at about 56 times its companies’ reported earnings, near the highest level since 2003, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Euro Stoxx 50 may reach 3,200 and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index may climb to 6,000 by the end of 2010, according to Nomura Holdings Inc. “We think stocks will rise further in 2010, but suspect that the rally will have a different complexion to that which drove the market in 2009, a year that was purely a ‘macro trade,’” the brokerage wrote in a report to clients dated Dec. 11. “In 2010, we think the emphasis will switch to the micro, with themes within the market becoming more important.” U.S. Strategists The Wall Street strategists who correctly predicted U.S. equities would rebound from the steepest plunge since the Great Depression now say the S&P 500 will rally 11 percent next year. Thomas Lee, the chief U.S. equity strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s David Kostin, this year’s most-accurate forecasters, say Federal Reserve interest rates near zero and profit growth of more than 26 percent will drive the S&P 500 to 1,300 and 1,250, respectively, in 2010. The combination of higher earnings and an increase in mergers and acquisitions will boost the index to 1,250, according to Thomas Doerflinger, a senior strategist at UBS AG in New York. To contact the reporter on this story: Daniela Silberstein in Zurich at dsilberstei2@bloomberg.net.

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