U.S. stock futures dropped and the euro fell as Asian stocks swung between gains and losses, in advance of economic reports on European industrial production and consumer sentiment in the U.S. Copper led metals higher. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures slid 0.9 percent after the gauge jumped 4.6 percent yesterday. The MSCI Asia Pacific was little changed at 2:17 p.m. in Tokyo. Advancing stocks led decliners 5 to 4. Copper rose 0.7 percent. Treasuries rebounded from the biggest loss since September 2008. The benchmark 10- year note yield declined five basis points to 2.28 percent. About $6.77 trillion has been wiped off the value of global equity markets since July 26 after S&P downgraded U.S. debt for the first time, riots swept across Britain and Europe’s debt crisis deepened. While most stock indexes rose today, the MSCI Asia Pacific has lost 13 percent from its May peak. Reports in the U.S. today may show retail sales rose the most in four months and consumer confidence fell, while industrial production in the euro region was unchanged in June. “The latest U.S. jobs data and earnings results may suggest things aren’t as dire as the markets had feared,” said Prasad Patkar, who helps manage the equivalent of $1.7 billion at Sydney-based Platypus Asset Management Ltd. “However, fundamentals aren’t really driving stock markets at the moment. We may be getting a bounce because they are oversold.” Long Stretch The MSCI Asia Pacific is poised for a third straight weekly decline, the longest stretch of losses since June. The equity benchmark trades at 12.3 times estimated profit, near the lowest level since December 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. S&P 500 futures expiring in September sank 1 percent to 1,157.20. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.8 percent to 10,999. Futures on the FTSE 100 Index that expire in September rose 0.8 percent after the Stoxx Europe 600 Index posted the biggest advance since May 2010 yesterday, climbing 3.2 percent. France, Spain, Italy and Belgium will impose bans on short-selling from today to stabilize markets after European banks including Societe Generale SA hit their lowest level since the credit crisis. U.S. stocks jumped yesterday as first-time applications for jobless benefits decreased 7,000 in the week ended Aug. 6 to 395,000, the fewest since early April. Economists forecast 405,000 claims, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The Labor Department said the number of people on unemployment benefit rolls and those getting extended payments also dropped. Asia Action Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.8 percent and was headed for the only weekly gain among Asia’s developed equity markets. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.2 percent and Korea’s Kospi fell 0.7 percent. News Corp. (NWS) jumped 6.3 percent to A$15.68, the biggest intraday advance in more than a year. The owner of the Wall Street Journal rose 18 percent in Nasdaq trading yesterday, the biggest gain in almost three years, as analysts upgraded their recommendations on the stock after the company said it will buy back more shares. The stock market’s fastest electronic firms boosted trading threefold during the rout that erased $2.2 trillion from U.S. equity values, stepping up strategies that profit from volatility, according to Wedbush Securities. The increase from Aug. 1 to Aug. 10 over their 2011 average surpassed the 80 percent rise in U.S. equity volume, showing that high-frequency traders made up more of the market during the plunge, the brokerage said. Emerging Markets Emerging-market equity funds posted the third-largest weekly outflows on record with withdrawals of $7.7 billion in the week ended Aug. 10, Citigroup Inc. analysts led by Markus Rosgen said in a report today, citing figures compiled by EPFR Global. That took total outflows for the year to $14 billion, according to Citigroup. The euro extended its second straight weekly drop against the dollar, weakening to $1.4186 from $1.4241 yesterday in New York and $1.4282 on Aug. 5. New Zealand’s dollar declined against all 16 major peers as prospects for slower global growth damped demand for higher- yielding assets. The kiwi fell 0.7 percent to 82.61 U.S. cents and weakened 0.7 percent to 63.49 yen. Yuan Strength China’s yuan has climbed 0.7 percent this week, the strongest gain in more than three years, breaking through 6.4 per dollar for the first time in 17 years. The yuan traded at 6.3953 in Shanghai today. Chinese officials are allowing the currency to appreciate as slowing growth and gyrations in global currencies and stock markets threaten to spark a new recession. Besides countering inflation and accelerating China’s shift to domestic-driven growth, a stronger yuan may also signal a willingness to help shore up slumping confidence in the global economy. The cost of protecting Asia-Pacific corporate and sovereign bonds from default declined, with the Markit iTraxx Asia index of 50 investment-grade borrowers outside Japan falling 4 basis points to 151 basis points in Hong Kong, Credit Agricole CIB prices show. The Markit iTraxx Australia index dropped 2 basis points to 153 basis points in Sydney, Credit Agricole prices show. That’s down from a two-year high of 155 basis points yesterday, CMA data show. Wheat, Corn Gain Wheat prices climbed for a fourth day while corn and soybeans advanced after a government report showed U.S. farmers will harvest smaller crops than forecast last month following a damaging heat wave. The U.S. Department of Agriculture yesterday cut its corn- crop estimate by 4.1 percent, reduced the soybean forecast by 5.2 percent, and said spring-wheat production will be 5.2 percent below what it predicted in July. Corn futures for December delivery on the Chicago Board of Trade gained as much as 0.8 percent to $7.20 a bushel, the highest price since June 9, extending yesterday’s 3.7 percent advance. Wheat for December delivery increased 0.2 percent to $7.3425 bushel. Soybeans for November delivery rose 0.8 percent to $13.42 a bushel, extending yesterday’s 2.3 percent gain, the biggest jump since May 18. To contact the reporters on this story: Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net; Shani Raja in Sydney at sraja4@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Patrick Chu at pachu@bloomberg.net

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