Commodities climbed for a second day, trimming the biggest quarterly drop since 2008, after German lawmakers approved an expansion of the European bailout fund and on signs that the world’s biggest economy grew faster than estimated. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 raw materials climbed 0.4 percent to 608.90 at 11:05 a.m. Seoul time, led by oil and gold. Crude oil gained as much as 1.3 percent and gold advanced as much as 1.6 percent, set for a 12th quarterly advance. Wheat rose 1 percent, gaining for a second day. “The near-term sentiment has improved,” Gavin Wendt, founder of Mine Life Pty., an energy and mining analyst, said by phone from Sydney. “The medium-and-longer-term picture for commodities is still very sound and still very strong.” The lower house of Germany’s parliament granted the bailout fund powers to buy bonds in secondary markets, enable bank recapitalizations and offer precautionary credit lines. The GSCI has slumped 9 percent since the end of June, the most since the fourth quarter of 2008, on speculation that a European default would lead to recession, curbing commodity demand. “Because prices have reacted so strongly to near-term negative news or what the market perceived as negative news, commodities were significantly oversold,” said Wendt. “That has left them well placed for near-term bounce back.” The U.S. economy grew at a 1.3 percent pace in the second quarter, faster than estimated last month and helped by exports and spending on services and claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell more than forecast last week. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index yesterday climbed as much as 2.2 percent. Crude Oil, Gold Crude for November delivery gained 0.5 percent to $82.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price is down 14 percent this quarter, the biggest loss since the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2008. Gold for immediate delivery rose for a second day, bringing this quarter’s gain to 9 percent. The metal last traded at $1,626.05 an ounce. Silver gained 0.6 percent to $30.81 an ounce. Wheat futures advanced as much as 1.1 percent to $6.615 a bushel in Chicago, heading for the first quarterly advance in three. Corn increased 0.2 percent to $6.34 a bushel. Industrial metals were mostly lower, with copper dropping 1.7 percent to $7,109 a metric ton and aluminum declining 0.6 percent to $2,234 a ton. Copper is down 25 percent in the current quarter, the biggest loss since 2008. To contact the reporter on this story: Sungwoo Park in Seoul at spark47@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Richard Dobson at rdobson4@bloomberg.net

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