U.S. stock futures gained, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will rebound from a 12-year low, as investors speculated China may step up stimulus measures and higher metals and oil lifted commodity producers. Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum maker, and Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s biggest gold producer, advanced at least 1 percent in German trading. ConocoPhillips, the second-largest U.S. refiner, climbed with crude prices. Futures on the S&P 500 Index expiring this month rose 2.2 percent to 704.40 at 9:56 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 1.8 percent to 6,788 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures increased 1.8 percent to 1,091.25. Stocks in Asia and Europe also advanced. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao may announce new stimulus measures tomorrow, adding to a 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) spending plan as the government tries to revive the world’s third-biggest economy. Wen will announce “a new stimulus package,” former statistics bureau head Li Deshui said today. “That is a bit of good news,” said Jonathan Monk, a fund manager at Aerion Fund Management in London, which oversees about $1 billion in U.S. stocks. “It’s certainly a glimmer of hope. The market is so oversold it wouldn’t take much to cause a rally so maybe this is it.” The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.5 percent, while Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index rallied 2.3 percent. Alcoa added 1.6 percent to $5.62 in Germany and Barrick climbed 1.1 percent to $28.71. Copper, lead, nickel and zinc all rose on the London Metal Exchange. Below 700 Stocks retreated for a fifth day yesterday as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the banking system still hasn’t stabilized, offsetting gains in commodity shares on speculation China will boost demand for raw materials. The S&P 500 closed below 700 for the first time since October 1996 and the Dow fell to the lowest level in almost 12 years. The deepening global recession, a third government rescue for Citigroup Inc. and dividend cuts at companies from General Electric Co. to JPMorgan Chase & Co. have dragged the S&P 500 to three consecutive weeks of declines, pushing the index down 23 percent this year. The measure traded for 12 times company profits from the past 10 years as of yesterday’s close, the cheapest since 1986, according to data compiled by Yale University professor Robert Shiller. He uses a decade of earnings to smooth out short-term fluctuations. ConocoPhillips gained 1.4 percent to $35.76. Crude oil rose for a second day, with the contract for April delivery adding as much as 1.7 percent to $42.35 a barrel. Economy Watch Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. climbed 1 percent to $28.25 in German trading after the developer of an experimental hepatitis C treatment agreed to buy ViroChem Pharma Inc. for $100 million in cash and 9.9 million shares. Costco Wholesale Corp. may move. The biggest U.S. warehouse- club chain reported its first profit decline in seven quarters as discounting hurt margins and the strength of the dollar eroded international revenue. The shares didn’t trade in Europe. Service industries in the U.S. probably shrank at a faster pace in February as job losses sapped consumer confidence, economists said before a report at 10 a.m. in New York. The Institute for Supply Management’s index of non-manufacturing businesses, which make up almost 90 percent of the economy, fell to 41 from 42.9 in January, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Companies probably scrapped 630,000 jobs last month, the second-worst reading since ADP Employer Services -- the world’s largest payroll manager -- started keeping such records in 2001, economists said in a separate Bloomberg survey. The figures are scheduled to be released at 8:15 a.m.

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