By Stephen Kirkland Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The Dollar Index fell the most in four weeks and the euro gained before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke addresses the Senate and the European Central Bank meets to discuss interest rates this week. European stocks and U.S. index futures advanced, while oil fluctuated. The Dollar Index slipped 0.5 percent at 8:05 a.m. in New York, while the euro strengthened against most of its peers. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.7 percent and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.4 percent, after the gauge sank the most in three months last week. Crude rose as much as 2.1 percent before falling 0.2 percent. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index lost 0.8 percent, with Oman shares sinking the most in 25 months and Dubai’s index tumbling to the lowest level since 2004. Bernanke may say that the Fed will keep interest rates near zero when he testifies to the Senate Banking Committee tomorrow, while ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet may signal a readiness to increase borrowing costs. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is meeting with foreign ministers at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to discuss Libya, while in Oman two demonstrators were killed in clashes yesterday. “The flash-fire is spreading,” said Thorbjoern Bak Jensen, an analyst at Global Risk Management in Middelfart, Denmark. “The situation in Oman creates speculation the unrest will spread to Saudi Arabia itself, though living standards in Saudi are higher and the country is much richer.” The dollar depreciated against all but four of its most- traded counterparts, slipping 0.5 percent per euro. Europe’s single currency appreciated 0.8 percent versus the yen and 0.5 percent against the Swiss franc. Monetary Tightening Sweden’s krona jumped 1.2 percent against the dollar to the strongest since August 2008, after central bank Governor Stefan Ingves said in minutes of the Feb. 14 meeting published today that the chances of monetary tightening at every meeting this year have risen and signaled individual interest-rate increases may be bigger than those executed thus far. The Bloomberg GCC 200 index fell to the lowest level on a closing basis since Sept. 5. Oman’s MSM 30 Index sank 4.9 percent and the Dubai Financial Market General Index slid 3.9 percent. Turkey’s ISE National 100 Index slid 0.4 percent and the lira weakened for the first time in three days against the dollar after the January current-account deficit that was almost double the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey. The cost of insuring Gulf nations’ debt rose, with credit- default swaps tied to Abu Dhabi’s bonds climbing 1.5 basis points to 118, the highest since May, and contracts on Morocco increasing 10 basis points to a one-month high of 205, according to CMA. Swaps on Bahrain climbed four basis points to 304 and Saudi Arabia added five basis points to 140, both near the highest levels since July 2009. Emerging Markets The MSCI Emerging Markets Index advanced 0.3 percent. The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index climbed 0.7 percent as India’s government pledged to trim its budget shortfall while boosting spending on projects needed to sustain economic growth. HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank, slid 4.6 percent in London after earnings missed analysts’ estimates. Associated British Foods Plc retreated 5.6 percent to the lowest level since July after saying there’s been a “noticeable slowing down” of U.K. demand at its Primark clothing stores. Hays Plc climbed 2 percent as the U.K.’s largest recruitment agency posted a first-half profit. S&P 500 futures were little changed after the benchmark gauge for U.S. equities had the biggest drop in three months last week. A report today may show consumer spending rose at a slower pace in January as food and fuel prices climbed, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. Other figures may show manufacturing continued to expand and home sales dropped. Cotton, Copper Oil climbed to $98.23 a barrel after earlier reaching $99.96 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude rose 0.3 percent to $112.42 in London, after climbing to $114.50 and dropping as low as $111.25. The average price for U.S. regular gasoline at the pump gained 2.1 cents to $3.354 a gallon on Feb. 26, AAA, the country’s largest motor club, said on its website. The record pump price, reached in July 2008, was $4.114. Cotton jumped the daily limit of 7 cents, or 3.8 percent, after China, the world’s largest producer and consumer, reported lower production last year. Copper climbed 0.4 percent. The yield on the two-year Treasury declined one basis point to 0.70 percent, with the similar-maturity German note yield also falling one basis point, to 1.53 percent. --With assistance from Claudia Carpenter, Andrew Rummer, Abigail Moses, Michael Patterson, Grant Smith and Daniel Tilles in London. Editors: Stephen Kirkland, Stuart Wallace To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Sillitoe at psillitoe@bloomberg.net.

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