European stock-index futures rose after China refrained from raising interest rates even as inflation surged at the fastest pace in more than two years. Asian shares gained while U.S. futures were little changed. Mining shares may be active after copper rallied to a record in London. Wellstream Plc may move after General Electric Co. agreed to buy the oilfield-services provider for about 800 million pounds ($1.3 billion). Futures contracts on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index expiring in March climbed 0.7 percent to 2,858 as of 7:28 a.m. in London. FTSE 100 Index futures rose 0.6 percent and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rallied 0.5 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in March gained less than 0.1 percent after the benchmark U.S. gauge last week climbed to a two-year high. The People’s Bank of China, which last week raised reserve- requirement ratios for banks by half a percentage point, didn’t increase interest rates this weekend even as consumer prices jumped 5.1 percent in November. “Concerns that Chinese interest rates would rise were unfounded,” said Rhian Witherall, a senior dealer at London Capital Group in the U.K. capital. “European equity markets are seen opening higher following increases in Asia and the U.S.” The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 1.9 percent last week to the highest level since September 2008 as U.S. consumer confidence advanced to a six-month high and concern subsided that Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis will derail the economic recovery. EU Meeting European Union leaders will this week discuss the creation of a permanent mechanism to shore up over-indebted countries as the European Central Bank tries to hammer out plans to aid the region’s weakest lenders. At a summit in Brussels on Dec. 16 and 17, the group will confront investor skepticism about its readiness to stem a sovereign-debt crisis that led to bailouts for Greece and Ireland and threatens to spread. Mining shares including Xstrata Plc and Rio Tinto Group might advance after copper jumped to a record on the London Metal Exchange. Chinese imports of copper and products rose 29 percent last month. Wellstream may move after General Electric agreed to buy the U.K.-based oilfield-services provider focused on Brazil for 780 pence a share plus a special dividend of 6 pence a share. Banco Popolare SC may be active after shareholders approved a plan by the Italian lender to raise as much as 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in a rights offer to repay government-backed bonds and boost capital. Weir Group Plc might move after saying it agreed to plead guilty to two charges of breaching United Nations sanctions over Oil-for-Food contracts between 2000 and 2002. Sanofi-Aventis SA may also move as the French drugmaker making a hostile bid for Genzyme Corp. extended the deadline for the U.S. biotechnology company’s shareholders to tender their stock to Jan. 21. To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Merritt at dmerritt1@bloomberg.net.

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