European and Asian shares gained and U.S. stock-index futures advanced after Intel Corp.’s sales forecast beat analysts’ estimates and the decline in China’s exports slowed. STMicroelectronics NV and Infineon Technologies AG, Europe’s two biggest computer-chip makers, rallied more than 3 percent after Intel forecast sales that surpassed projections by as much as $1 billion. ASML Holding NV, Europe’s largest maker of semiconductor equipment, surged 3.4 percent after reporting its first profit in four quarters. Rio Tinto Group led mining companies higher after its third-quarter iron ore production increased to a record. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index increased 1.4 percent to 245.21 as of 8:20 a.m. in London. The measure has jumped 55 percent since March 9 as companies from Royal Philips Electronics NV to Alcoa Inc. reported earnings that beat analysts’ estimates. The rally pushed the index’s valuation to 46.9 times earnings, near the most expensive level since 2003, weekly data compiled by Bloomberg show. Intel’s “better-than-expected numbers show one of the first major companies to report a more sustainable recovery instead of heavily cutting costs,” James Hughes, a market analyst at CMC Markets in London, wrote before the start of trading in Europe. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 1 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 1 percent to a 13- month high as consumer sentiment jumped in Australia. China’s Exports China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.6 percent after the nation’s exports declined at the slowest pace in nine months in September. Shipments dropped 15.2 percent to $115.9 billion from a year earlier, the customs bureau said. The median estimate of 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 21 percent decline. In August, exports slid 23.4 percent. STMicroelectronics, Europe’s biggest chipmaker, advanced 4.8 percent to 6.98 euros and Infineon, the second-largest, gained 3.2 percent to 3.99 euros. Intel increased 4.3 percent to $21.37 in German trading after predicting fourth-quarter revenue of as much as $10.5 billion, topping the $9.5 billion average estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The company’s gross margin -- a measure of profitability -- may reach the highest level this decade. ASML climbed 3.4 percent to 22.34 euros after reporting a profit as chipmakers resumed buying its machines after an industry slump. Third-quarter net income was 19.7 million euros ($29.3 million), or 5 cents a share. That beat the 10.6 million- euro average of seven analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Rio Tinto, BP Rio Tinto added 3.3 percent to 2,942 pence in London. The world’s third-largest mining company said iron-ore production rose on demand from steelmakers in China. Production of iron ore, the biggest contributor to earnings in the first half, climbed 12 percent to 47.5 million metric tons in the three months to Sept. 30, from 42.4 million tons a year earlier. BP Plc, Europe’s second-largest oil company, climbed 1.4 percent to 554.5 pence as crude rose to a one-year high in New York on optimism the global economic recovery will boost energy demand. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the region’s biggest oil company, advanced 1.2 percent to 1,845 pence. Credit Agricole SA rose 3.2 percent to 14.89 euros after saying it will repay 3 billion euros to the French state. Retail sales in the U.S. probably fell in September after the “cash for clunkers” plan expired, economists said before a report from the Commerce Department at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. At 2 p.m., the Federal Reserve will release minutes of its Federal Open Market Committee meeting in September. To contact the reporter on this story: Adria Cimino in Paris at acimino1@bloomberg.net.

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