By Michael Patterson and Lynn Thomasson Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures rose after China unveiled a $586 billion economic stimulus package and the Group of 20 nations urged central banks to cut interest rates. General Electric Co. and Caterpillar Inc. climbed more than 2 percent as China's plan eased concern that infrastructure and construction spending may slow in the fastest-growing major economy. Citigroup Inc. rose 4 percent after the G-20 said it will use ``monetary and fiscal policy'' to combat the threat of a global recession. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. added 8 percent and Exxon Mobil Corp. climbed 1.7 percent on higher commodity prices. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 1.9 percent to 953.6 at 8:30 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 1.7 percent, while Nasdaq-100 Index futures rose 1.6 percent. Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index jumped 2.1 percent and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 3.3 percent. ``The announcement from China suggests there's a great deal of stimulus coming,'' Alan Gayle, the Richmond, Virginia-based senior strategist at Ridgeworth Investments, which oversees about $70 billion, told Bloomberg Television. ``There's a good chance we're going to see further stimulus here in the U.S.'' The S&P 500 retreated 37 percent this year as concern deepened that the credit crises sparked by a surge in U.S. mortgage defaults will drag down the global economy. President- elect Barack Obama may inherit the worst U.S. recession since 1982, according to economists' estimates, putting pressure on the Democrat to assemble a response and name his economic team. U.S. stock-index futures briefly pared gains after Circuit City Stores Inc. filed for bankruptcy. China Package China's stimulus package, equivalent to almost a fifth of the country's gross domestic product last year, will be used by the end of 2010, the Beijing-based State Council said yesterday. China accounted for 27 percent of global economic growth last year, more than any other nation, according to the International Monetary Fund. The extra spending may boost the nation's economic growth by 2 percentage points next year, said Xing Ziqiang, an economist at China International Capital Corp. in Beijing. UBS AG and Credit Suisse AG, before yesterday's announcement, forecast GDP would rise no more than 7.5 percent next year, which would be the smallest increase in nearly two decades. `Welcome Boost' ``Governments and businesses are working on solutions to the slowdown plaguing economies and earnings, which may bring us some positive surprises,'' Tomochika Kitaoka, a Tokyo-based strategist at Mizuho Securities Co., said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. ``Government spending will be a welcome boost.'' GE, which gets about 44 percent of its revenue from energy and technology infrastructure businesses, climbed 2.9 percent to $19.40. Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of bulldozers and excavators, increased 4.6 percent to $40.20. Citigroup increased 58 cents to $12.40 and JPMorgan Chase & Co. added 2.7 percent to $38.75. ``We stand ready to urgently take forward work and actions agreed by our leaders to restore and maintain financial stability and support global growth,'' the G-20 said in a statement released yesterday following a meeting in Sao Paulo. ``Countries must use all their policy flexibility, consistent with their circumstances, to support sustainable growth.'' Fed Bets Futures on the Chicago Board of Trade showed a 99 percent chance the Federal Reserve will cut its 1 percent target rate for overnight lending between banks in half at its Dec. 16 meeting, compared with 54 percent odds a week ago. The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, that banks charge each other for three-month loans in dollars dropped to the lowest level in four years. The rate slid almost 6 basis points to 2.24 percent today, the lowest level since Nov. 5, 2004, according to British Bankers' Association data. It was the 21st consecutive decline. The overnight rate rose 2 basis points to 0.35 percent, still 65 basis points below the Federal Reserve's target rate. Freeport-McMoRan jumped $2.18 to $29.25. Exxon, the world's biggest oil company, advanced $1.25 to $75.20. Copper surged 8.5 percent in London and crude oil added 7.1 percent in New York after the announcement by China, the world's largest user of the metal and second-largest oil consumer. Wells Fargo & Co. climbed 1 percent to $29.80. Credit Suisse Group AG analysts raised the biggest bank on the U.S. West Coast to ``overweight'' and said the company may exceed analysts' profit estimates in 2009. AIG Bailout Expanded American International Group Inc. surged 26 percent to $2.65. The insurer got an expanded government rescue package valued at more than $150 billion after posting a fourth straight quarterly loss. The U.S. will reduce the original $85 billion loan that saved AIG in September to $60 billion, buy $40 billion of preferred shares, and purchase $52.5 billion of mortgage securities owned or backed by the company, according to the Fed. The insurer lost $24.5 billion, or $9.05 a share in the period ended Sept. 30, compared with profit of $3.09 billion, or $1.19, a year earlier, AIG said. General Motors Corp. fell 51 cents to $3.85 after the biggest U.S. automaker was cut to ``underweight'' from ``equal- weight'' at Barclays Capital, which predicted the shares may tumble to $1. NRG Energy Inc. may move. The second-largest power producer in Texas rejected an unsolicited $6.1 billion takeover offer from Exelon Corp., citing a recent downgrade of the largest U.S. utility owner's credit rating. To contact the reporters on this story: Michael Patterson in London at mpatterson10@bloomberg.net. Lynn Thomasson in New York at lthomasson@bloomberg.net.

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