Stocks rose, the yen weakened and gold dropped on speculation the Federal Reserve may act to support the economy. Nasdaq-100 Index futures fell after Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs resigned, while Greece’s 10-year bond yield climbed to a record. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.4 percent at 6:55 a.m. in New York and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures advanced 0.2 percent. Nasdaq contracts slipped 0.4 percent as Apple sank 4 percent in pre-market trading. The yen depreciated against 15 of its 16 major peers, and gold sank 3 percent, bringing its slide in three days to 10 percent. Greece’s 10-year yield rose to 18.54 percent. Investors are awaiting a speech by Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, tomorrow for any indications of whether the central bank will embark on further stimulus. Credit Agricole SA, France’s second-largest bank by assets, profit beat estimates, while Glencore International Plc, the world’s biggest listed commodities trader, said earnings jumped 57 percent. “I don’t see a recession coming,” Robert Mundell, a Nobel laureate and professor of economics at Columbia University in New York, told Francine Lacqua on Bloomberg Television’s “On The Move” today in Lindau, Germany. The U.S. will need to use fiscal policy such as corporate tax cuts to get the economy on a “normal track of recovery,” he said. Four shares rose for every one that declined in the Stoxx 600. Credit Agricole jumped 6.5 percent and Glencore climbed 1.9 percent. Shire Plc fell 3.9 percent after the drug company abandoned development of the Dermagraft skin substitute for the treatment of leg ulcers. Jobs Resigns The gain in S&P 500 futures indicated the gauge will extend a three-day, 4.8 percent rally. Apple, the world’s most valuable technology company, makes up 3.2 percent of the S&P 500, 9.3 percent of the Nasdaq Composite Index and 15 percent of the Nasdaq-100. Jobs, who has been combating a rare form of cancer, will be succeeded by Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, while he becomes chairman. U.S. initial claims for jobless benefits probably fell by 3,000 to 405,000 last week, a Bloomberg survey of economists showed before today’s Labor Department report. Data tomorrow may indicate the world’s biggest economy grew 1.1 percent in the second quarter, down from a previous estimate of 1.3 percent, according to the median of 80 forecasts in a separate survey. Emerging Markets The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 2.9 percent, the most in 10 months, after Bank of China Ltd. said first-half profit jumped 28 percent to a record while bad loans dropped. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s largest lender by market value, and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. reported earnings that topped analysts’ estimates after local markets closed. The Czech PX Index advanced 0.7 percent, rallying for a second day after S&P upgraded the country by two notches to AA-. Komercni Banka AS jumped 2.9 percent in Prague after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recommended buying the bank’s shares. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed 0.1 percent. The extra yield that investors demand to hold 10-year Greek debt instead of benchmark German bunds rose to 16.28 percentage points today, a record high. Greece has a more than 84 percent chance of default, according to five-year credit swaps, which are quoted at 2,250 basis points by CMA, the highest in more than a month. The cost of insuring European bank debt fell for the first time in four days, with the Markit iTraxx Financial Index linked to the senior debt of 25 banks and insurers dropping nine basis points to 246 basis points. Treasuries, Dollar Treasuries advanced, sending 10-year yields down two basis points to 2.28 percent. The government is scheduled to sell $29 billion of seven-year notes today. The yen weakened 0.6 percent against the New Zealand dollar and 0.9 percent versus South Africa’s rand. The Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against those of six U.S. trading partners, slipped 0.1 percent. Gold fell as much as 3.1 percent to $1,704.25 an ounce and last traded at $1,706.15. Prices have declined 11 percent from a record $1,913.50 on Aug. 23. Crude oil in New York gained 0.5 percent to $85.62 a barrel and copper in London rose for a third day. Wheat dropped 1 percent on speculation a bigger crop in Canada will intensify competition from exporters. To contact the reporters on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net; Shiyin Chen in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Justin Carrigan at jcarrigan@bloomberg.net

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