Copper rose for a fifth day, to extend its longest advance in a month, on speculation the worst of the financial crisis is over. European stocks and U.S. index futures pared their gains after Hewlett-Packard Co. said sales haven’t shown signs of rebounding. Copper rose 0.9 percent at 11:28 a.m. on the London Metal Exchange. The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, for three-month dollar loans fell for a 36th consecutive day. The MSCI World Index of 23 developed equity markets added 0.1 percent. The gauge earlier advanced as much as 0.4 percent after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its recommendation on Japanese trading companies and Air France-KLM Group reported a smaller- than-expected loss. “The doomsday scenario has been avoided,” said Gary Jenkins, head of credit research at Evolution Securities in London. “People are more aggressively looking to get long.” Investors are growing more confident in financial markets after governments and central banks pumped more than $13 trillion into the banking system. Options that measure investor expectations for price swings by the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index are trading at their lowest levels since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for the world’s biggest bankruptcy on Sept. 15. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index fell 0.4 percent, after earlier adding 0.8 percent and futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increased 0.1 percent, paring an advance of as much as 0.8 percent. Japanese gross domestic product shrank at a record 15.2 percent pace last quarter, and Hewlett-Packard, the world’s biggest maker of personal computers, said annual revenue will drop 4 percent to 5 percent. Goldman Pick The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5 percent to a seven- month high, as Goldman Sachs said it was turning more positive on the transportation industry. In Europe, Air France-KLM rose as much as 13 percent in Paris. Copper for delivery in three months gained $40, or 0.9 percent, to $4,570 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. Crude oil for July delivery added 0.8 percent to $60.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. “It’s a global sentiment anticipating the second half will be better economically, so investors in stocks, debt and commodities markets are positioning themselves for that,” said Frederic Lasserre, head of commodities research at Societe Generale in Paris. U.S. Recovery The U.S. economy will expand 0.5 percent in the third quarter, following four consecutive contractions, according to the median of 63 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The S&P 500 rose 34 percent since falling to its lows of the year on March 9 and dropping 38 percent in 2008. The world’s biggest banks and brokerages reported more than $1.4 trillion in writedowns and credit losses since the start of 2007, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of commodities plunged the most in a half-century last year as frozen credit markets and contracting economies dragged down demand for raw materials. Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, raised about $13.5 billion by selling stock after U.S. regulators determined it needed more cash to weather an extended recession. The stock rose 2.2 percent to $11.50 in New York pre- market trading. The VIX, as the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index is known, has tumbled 64 percent since jumping to 80.86, the highest in its 19-year history, on Nov. 20. Europe’s VStoxx Index has dropped 64 percent since closing at a record 87.51 on Oct. 16. Emerging Markets The MSCI Emerging Markets Index added 0.5 percent, rising for a fourth day. Essar Oil Ltd., the Mumbai-based refiner, gained 12 percent to an eight-month high. The euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.3637 as investors returned to higher-yielding assets. The common European currency erased its losses against the yen, trading at 130.63, after weakening to 129.73. The rate for three-month Libor fell more than three basis points to 0.72 percent, according to the British Bankers’ Association. Costs to protect European corporate bonds from default fell, according to traders of credit-default swaps. The Markit iTraxx Crossover Index of credit-default swaps on 45 companies with mostly high-yield ratings dropped 14 basis points to 744, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. prices at 9:11 a.m. in London. A decline signals an improvement in perceptions of credit quality. Credit-default swaps pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent should a company fail to meet its debt agreements. A basis point on a contract protecting 10 million euros ($13.6 million) of debt from default for five years is equivalent to 1,000 euros a year.

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