Global Stocks Rises

Stocks rose around the world as the $20 billion purchase of Hilton Hotels Corp. sparked a rally in European hotel shares and Asian exporters gained on signs of diminishing tension in the Korean peninsula.

Accor SA, Europe's largest hotel company, and InterContinental Hotels Group Plc, the owner of the Holiday Inn chain, surged after Hilton agreed to a Blackstone Group LP takeover. Samsung Electronics Co. and Kookmin Bank paced Asian stocks higher after North Korean leader Kim Jong Il signaled he's ready to begin dismantling the communist state's nuclear weapons program. Equities in Mexico rose for a sixth day.

U.S. markets were closed for Independence Day.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International World Index, a global equity benchmark, has rallied in the last six days on easing concern that rising borrowing costs will dent earnings and damp takeovers. So far this year $2.7 trillion worth of takeovers have been announced globally, compared with $1.8 trillion for the same period of 2006, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

``As long as there are mergers and acquisitions, speculation will be there and it will support stocks,'' said Matthieu Giuliani, a fund manager at Palatine Asset Management in Paris, which oversees $9.2 billion in assets. ``M&A is a motor for the market.''

The MSCI World index gained 0.2 percent as of 4:59 p.m. in New York. It has gained 2.5 percent in the past six days. Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 added 0.5 percent. MSCI's Asia- Pacific Index increased 0.2 percent and its Latin American index increased 0.3 percent. South Korea's Kospi index jumped 1.8 percent for the biggest advance of any benchmark in Asia.

Turkey's Record

Turkey's ISE National 100 Index rallied to a record after inflation slowed last month more than economists anticipated and Credit Suisse Group recommended buying the country's shares.

Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd. rose. The company received an approach in what would be the biggest takeover of a Hong Kong developer. BHP Billiton Ltd. gained in Australia after getting approval for a $1.7 billion oil-field project.

InterContinental added 3.9 percent. Accor SA, Europe's largest hotel company, jumped 10 percent, the biggest advance of any stock on the Stoxx 600.

Hilton's agreement to be taken private by Blackstone ends the hotel chain's more than 60 years as a public company. Blackstone will pay $47.50 for each share, Hilton said. That's 32 percent more than its closing price yesterday.

``Accor shares are being lifted by the takeover of Hilton, which is helping the whole industry,'' said Clemence Bounaix, an analyst at Richelieu Finance in Paris. ``The real-estate assets are the main thing that interests private equity.''

Travel Stocks

The Stoxx 600 travel and leisure index had the biggest gain among the 18 industry groups. It rose 2.6 percent, the most since March 20.

Samsung Electronics, South Korea's biggest exporter, advanced 1.2 percent. Kookmin Bank, its largest bank by assets, gained 1.9 percent. Kim's remarks were reported by Xinhua, China's state-run news agency.

``It's a significant long-term plus for the region since a geopolitical risk is receding,'' said Jo Dong Hyuk, who oversees $1.9 billion in global equities at Korea Investment Trust Management Co. in Seoul.

In Hong Kong, Chinese Estates, a property developer, increased 19 percent following a one-day suspension. The stock posted its biggest surge since September 2003 after the company said it's in talks with investors who may make an offer.

Latin America

Mexico's Bolsa index advanced as prospects improved for the passage of a tax measure that could spur government spending on infrastructure and energy.

The benchmark Bolsa index advanced 0.3 percent, helped by America Movil SAB, Latin America's biggest mobile-phone company. Brazil's Bovespa erased a rally and ended little changed.

Canadian telephone and materials stocks including Telus Corp. advanced for a second day after takeover speculation was fanned by the acquisitions in the past week of BCE Inc. and Aur Resources Inc.

Energy producers such as EnCana Corp. fell on declining natural-gas prices, while financial companies including Bank of Nova Scotia retreated. The benchmark S&P/Toronto Stock Exchange Composite Index lost 4.35 points to 14,060.39.

In Australia, BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company, gained 1.5 percent. Production at the Pyrenees oil-field project, located off the coast of northwestern Australia, is expected to begin in the first half of 2010, Melbourne-based BHP said.

Apple Rises

Apple Inc. added 57 cents in Germany, extending yesterday's gains in the U.S. after a research firm said the company sells its new iPhone at more than double production costs. The most- expensive $599 iPhone model has component and manufacturing costs of $265.83, which translates into margins of more than 55 percent, iSuppli Corp. said yesterday.

The iPhone, which combines features of the iPod music player with those of a phone handset, went on sale in the U.S. on June 29 and buyers emptied more than half of Apple's outlets in less than a week.

Turkey's ISE National 100 Index gained 1.6 percent. Credit Suisse Group advised investors to increase holdings in Turkish equities, especially banks, because the country's political outlook now seems ``less opaque'' before a July 22 general election, and because rates are likely to drop.

Credit Suisse upgraded Turkiye Is Bankasi AS, also known as Isbank, to ``outperform'' from ``neutral,'' and added the nation's biggest bank top its Europe Middle East and Africa focus list. Isbank shares added 3.8 percent in Istanbul today.

Inflation cooled in June for the third consecutive month, a government agency said yesterday after the market closed.

source;bloomberg.com