Europe Stocks, U.S. Futures Trim Gain; French Bonds Fall

European equities and U.S. stock- index futures pared gains, while the euro slid versus the dollar, as a surge in French bond yields spurred concern Europe’s debt crisis is spreading.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was up 0.1 percent at 7:53 a.m. in New York after earlier rallying as much 1 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.2 percent after rising 1 percent earlier. The euro was down 0.3 percent at $1.3082 as it weakened against 13 of 16 major peers. Ten-year French bond yields climbed 10 basis points to 3.12 percent, while Spanish yields increased 10 basis points to 5.92 percent.
Earlier gains in stocks and the euro came after Spain and France met their maximum target in debt sales and Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley rallied after reporting earnings that topped analyst estimates. The yen weakened as Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa pledged to continue monetary easing.

Spain sold the 10-year benchmark bonds at an average yield of 5.743 percent, compared with 5.789 percent on the secondary market before the auction, and 5.403 percent when it last sold the debt in January. It auctioned two-year securities at 3.463 percent. France issued 2.7 billion euros of benchmark five-year securities at an average yield of 1.83 percent, up from 1.78 percent on March 15.

The gain in S&P 500 futures indicated the U.S. equities gauge may trim yesterday’s 0.4 percent decline. Economic reports today are forecast to show sales of previously owned U.S. homes increased 0.7 percent in March, initial claims for jobless benefits declined last week and manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded in April, according to Bloomberg surveys of economists.

EBay Inc. (EBAY) rallied 10 percent after sales and profit at the world’s largest Internet marketplace topped analysts’ estimates, spurred by growth in its PayPal online-payments business. Qualcomm Inc., the biggest maker of mobile-phone semiconductors, declined 3.3 percent as its third-quarter forecasts fell short of some projections on increased spending to bolster chip output.