European stocks, US futures surge after GDP data

LONDON (AP) — European stocks rose and Wall Street was expected to rise on the open Thursday after better-than-expected data showed the U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace for two years from July to September.

The U.S. government report delivered the strongest signal yet that the world’s biggest economy entered a new, though fragile, phase of recovery and that the worst recession since the 1930s has ended.

In afternoon trading in Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.5 percent to 5,104.78, Germany’s DAX jumped 0.9 percent to 5,545.79, and France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.6 percent to 3,686.29.

Wall Street was expected to open higher. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 0.7 percent to 9,776 and Standard & Poor’s 500 futures added 0.8 percent to 1,047.30.

Earlier, Asian stock indexes closed lower for a third day after weak U.S. housing data on Thursday, but that gloom was lifted by the GDP data.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that gross domestic product, the broadest measurement of a country’s economic activity, grew at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter after four consecutive quarterly declines, fueled by government-supported spending on cars and homes. The figure was better than the rate of 3.3 percent that economists expected and the 2.7 percent forecast by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

In a separate report, official data showed workers filing for jobless claims for the first time fell slightly less than expected last week, evidence that the labor market remains weak even as the economy is recovering.

In Europe, financials were higher while some oil stocks suffered after Royal Dutch Shell PLC reported a drop in third-quarter profit.

Oil company Royal Dutch Shell Plc reported a 62 percent fall in third-quarter profit to $3.25 billion (euro2.21 billion) due to lower oil prices. Shares were down 4.8 percent in London after it announced plans to cut 5,000 jobs and Chief Executive Peter Voser said the outlook remained uncertain.

France’s Total slipped 2.3 percent, while Shell’s largest competitor in Europe, BP, which reported better-than-expected earnings earlier this week, lost 0.7 percent.

Meanwhile Exxon, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, reported third-quarter profit also tumbled with crude prices, but said production is bouncing back.

In Asia, stock markets in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney and Taiwan all declined 2 percent or more after Wednesday’s U.S. government report showed new home sales fell unexpectedly in September for the first time since March. That fueled fears the housing rebound was driven solely by government policies that are being withdrawn before the private sector recovers.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.8 percent to 9,891.10 while China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shed 2.3 percent to 2,960.47.

Taiwan’s Taiex and Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 suffered the region’s biggest declines, both falling 2.4 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 2.3 percent at 21,264.99.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.5 percent and Singapore’s Straits Times Index dropped 0.7 percent