The dollar strengthened, Treasuries rose and U.S. futures declined before President Barack Obama and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke speak on the U.S. economy. Gold snapped a two-day drop and Australia’s currency weakened after unemployment unexpectedly increased. The dollar climbed 0.2 percent versus the euro and rallied 0.6 percent versus the Aussie at 9:30 a.m. in London. The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell three basis points while the Greek two-year yield advanced to a record for the fifth consecutive day. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures slid 0.2 percent after a 2.9 percent jump in the U.S. gauge yesterday. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.7 percent, while the MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.7 percent. Gold added 1.3 percent. Obama will address Congress today on a $300 billion plan that includes tax cuts, infrastructure spending and direct aid to state and local governments. Bernanke will discuss the U.S. economic outlook after Chicago Fed President Charles Evans yesterday called for more stimulus. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development lowered its growth forecasts for the U.S. and Japan and said central banks should be ready to ease monetary policy if economies weaken further. Policy makers from the euro region to the U.K. and Malaysia are forecast to join the South Korean and Indonesian central banks in keeping interest rates unchanged today. “The more we fear that the policy makers are out of ammunition, the more we look for safe rocks to hide money under,” Kit Juckes, head of foreign-exchange research at Societe Generale SA in London, said in a report today. “We are squeezing out all available easing to support a global economy which continues to perform poorly.” U.S. Economy The dollar traded at $1.4071 versus the euro. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet will probably resist calls to cut the benchmark interest rate today and may opt instead to increase the supply of cash to euro-area banks as the region’s debt crisis worsens. Treasury 10-year yields decreased to 2.02 percent, with the 30-year yield sliding four basis points to 3.33 percent. U.S. policy makers are considering three unconventional steps to boost the economy before a two-day meeting this month, the Wall Street Journal reported, without citing anyone. The ECB will keep the main refinancing rate at 1.5 percent while the Bank of England will hold its rate at a record-low 0.5 percent, according to all 57 economists in two Bloomberg News surveys. The S&P 500 index of U.S. shares gained the most in two weeks yesterday amid speculation Obama’s plan will stimulate growth and help cut unemployment that remains at 9.1 percent more than two years after a recession officially ended. The Fed said in its Beige Book survey released yesterday the economy grew at a slower pace in some regions of the country. European Stocks Gain More than five shares gained for every one that fell on the Stoxx 600 as the gauge extended yesterday’s 3.1 percent rally. Banks led the index higher as BNP Paribas SA, Societe Generale SA, Credit Agricole SA and Banca Popolare di Milano Scrl all advanced more than 3 percent. Home Retail Group Plc (HOME) jumped more than 9 percent after saying the sales decline at its Argos catalog chain in the U.K. slowed. The Australian dollar fell against all but one of its 16 major peers after the statistics bureau said the number of people employed declined by 9,700, following a revised 4,100 drop in July. Norway’s krone appreciated against most major peers, rising 0.3 percent versus the euro, even as Norges Bank Governor Oeystein Olsen said that the nation has measures to respond should the currency become too strong. Gold Rises Gold rallied 1.1 percent to $1,836.60 an ounce in London. It sank 4.4 percent in the previous two days after reaching an all-time high of $1,921.15 on Sept. 6. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 commodities fell for the fourth day in five, losing 0.2 percent. Cotton rose as much as 3 percent to an almost two-month high in New York on speculation Tropical Storm Lee damaged crops in the U.S. South. Oil for October delivery was little changed at $89.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after advancing as much as 0.9 percent. An Energy Department report today may show supplies slid 2 million barrels as Lee shut output, a Bloomberg News survey of analysts show. To contact the reporters on this story: Shiyin Chen in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net. Rob Verdonck in London at rverdonck@bloomberg.net; To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Regan at jregan19@bloomberg.net.

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