U.S. stocks fell, Europe’s benchmark equity index halted a six-day rally and the dollar declined versus the yen as an unexpected drop in American durable-goods orders deepened concern the economic recovery is slowing. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.2 percent to 1,111.93 at 9:48 a.m. in New York. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.3 percent after climbing 4.9 percent since July 19. Oil fell below $77 a barrel and the dollar declined from the highest level in almost two weeks versus the yen, weakening 0.4 percent. Copper rallied to an 11-week high in London on speculation growth is sufficient to boost demand. Industrial shares helped lead declines in equities after orders for U.S. goods meant to last at least three years dropped 1 percent in June, depressed by a decrease in demand for aircraft, Commerce Department figures showed. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said there may be a “considerable” way to go before U.K. interest rates return to “normal” as policy makers debate when to halt emergency stimulus measures. “The scars remain,” said David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff & Associates Inc. in Toronto, in a radio interview with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Surveillance. “The transition to the next sustainable economic expansion is usually between five and seven years. The good news is that we finished two years of this. The glass is half empty. There could be between three to five years to go.” Dow Rally Halted The Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a four-day streak of gains as Boeing Co. led declines after posting second-quarter earnings of $1.06 a share, compared with the average analyst estimate $1.01 a share in a Bloomberg survey. The S&P 500 has rebounded 8.8 percent from a 10-month low on July 2 amid optimism that profit growth will signal a stabilizing economy. Earnings have topped analysts’ estimates at about 81 percent of companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results since July 12 and per-share profit has grown 54 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The U.S. Federal Reserve releases its Beige Book business in its 12 regions today. Crude oil for September delivery fell 0.7 percent to $76.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before the Energy Department’s inventory report. Copper for delivery in three months climbed as much as 2 percent on the London Metal Exchange and zinc jumped 2.6 percent. The benchmark 10-year yield was less than one basis points lower at 3.05 percent, according to BGCantor Market Data. The yield on five-year securities slipped one basis point to 1.78 percent before a sale of $37 billion of the debt today. More than two stocks fell for every one that advanced in Europe’s Stoxx 600. Air France-KLM Group, Europe’s biggest airline, jumped 1.2 percent after posting its first quarterly profit in almost two years. Japan’s Nikkei-225 Stock Average posted the biggest jump among major global equity indexes, rising 2.7 percent, after Tokyo-based Canon Inc., the world’s largest camera maker, reported earnings that beat analysts’ estimates. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 2.3 percent after the central bank said on its website that China’s economic fundamentals are “good.” To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net

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