Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures advanced as Novartis AG offered to buy remaining shares in Chiron Corp. Occidental Petroleum Corp. gained before its scheduled earnings report today.

``So far, earnings have been well up to expectations,'' said Brian Tora, who oversees about $22 billion as investment director at Gerrard Ltd. in London. ``Valuation levels are now so low that we are buying on weakness.''

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index has dropped 2.5 percent in October, poised for its biggest monthly fall in nine months, amid concern higher fuel costs will curb profit growth, spur inflation and push the Federal Reserve to keep raising interest rates.

The S&P 500 futures expiring in December rose 4.7 to 1204.4 at 12:53 p.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 31 to 10,436. The Nasdaq-100 Index futures gained 8.5 to 1569.

Sysco Corp., Kellogg Co. and Valero Energy Corp. are also among the S&P 500 companies reporting results today. Of the 348 members that released earnings through last week, 65 percent exceeded estimates, according to Thomson Financial.

Evidence of economic and earnings growth may spark a rebound from October's decline. The S&P 500 last week had its first weekly advance in the month after a government report showed the economy accelerated last quarter.

``Investors think enough of the negativity has been incorporated in stock prices,'' said Philippe Gijsels, chief strategist at Fortis's private investment unit in Brussels, which manages $62 billion.

Confidence indicators from Merrill Lynch & Co. and State Street Associates fell in October to the lowest since the 1990s, suggesting many investors who wanted to sell shares have already done so.

Oil Falls

Crude oil fell today for the first day in three in New York as gasoline demand slows in the U.S. Crude for December delivery dropped as much as 86 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $60.36 a barrel, in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Chiron, a U.S. vaccine maker recovering from a manufacturing shutdown, rose $1.18 to $44.58 in Germany. Novartis, Europe's second-largest drugmaker by market value, agreed to buy Chiron for $45 a share after its first offer was rejected as ``inadequate.'' Novartis already owns 42.2 percent of Chiron.

Occidental, the fourth-biggest U.S. oil company by market value, rose 44 cents to $77.34 in Germany. Occidental is expected to have third-quarter profit of $2.63 a share, up from $1.88 a year earlier, according to a Thomson survey.

Sysco, North America's largest distributor of food to restaurants, said first-quarter sales rose 6.3 percent to $8.01 billion, beating analyst estimates of $7.98 billion. The shares rose 13 cents to $32.39 in Germany.

Kellogg, the biggest U.S. cereal maker, is releasing third- quarter results after the market closes. The company is expected to report net income rose to 64 cents per share, up from 59 cents, according to Thomson data. The shares didn't trade in Europe.

Valero, Google

Valero, the No. 1 U.S. oil refiner, advanced $1.56 to $101.06 in Germany. The company reported net income rose to $1.28 billion from $434 million.

Google Inc., the most-used Internet search engine, advanced 2.86 cents to $361.03 in Switzerland. The company is becoming one of the leading players in the world of advertising, the New York Times reported, citing Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Goldman analyst Anthony Noto estimated that the Internet search engine will sell $6.1 billion in advertisements this year, according to the newspaper.

Computer Sciences

Carlyle Group, which manages the fourth-largest U.S. buyout fund, may join a group of bidders considering an offer for Computer Sciences Corp., the No. 5 U.S. computer-services company, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the situation. Computer Sciences shares didn't trade in Europe.

Among economic reports today, incomes in the U.S. probably rose 0.3 percent in September, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Spending likely increased 0.5 percent due to gasoline prices. The Commerce Department is expected to release the figures at 8:30 a.m. in Washington.

Manufacturing in the Chicago area is expected to decline to 57.5 this month from 60.5 in September, according to a survey of executives by the National Association of Purchasing Management in Chicago. A number lower than 50 signals a contraction. The figure will be released at 10 a.m. New York time.

The S&P500 added 1.6 percent to 1198.41 last week. The Dow average increased 1.8 percent to 10,402.77, also snapping a three- week losing streak.

The Nasdaq Composite Index, which gets more than two-fifths of its value from computer-related shares, rose 0.4 percent to 2089.88. Gains were limited as a disappointing forecast from Texas Instruments Inc. sent semiconductor stocks lower.

To contact the reporter on this story: Martin Boer in Amsterdam at mboer1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 31, 2005 08:00 EST