Commodities rose for a fourth day, U.S. equity futures advanced and the dollar fell to a two-month low on speculation central banks in the U.S. and China will ease monetary policy to support growth. Treasuries extended a rally and Spanish bonds dropped for a second day. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI gauge of 24 commodities jumped 0.7 percent at 6:35 a.m. New York time as gold reached a three- month high and oil in New York climbed to within $2 of $100 a barrel. The Dollar Index (MXEF) declined for a fourth day and Treasury 10-year yields fell to 1.67 percent, the lowest since Aug. 14. S&P 500 Index futures added 0.3 percent. Spain’s 10-year yield increased 16 basis points to 6.43 percent. Minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s last meeting showed many members favored more stimulus unless the pace of economic recovery picks up. A report today showed China’s manufacturing may contract at a faster pace in August, a day after People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said adjustments to interest rates and banks’ reserve requirements are still possible. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet with French President Francois Hollande to discuss the debt crisis. “This is the most explicit statement around quantitative easing we’ve seen from the Fed, and should be very good for markets,� Warren Hogan, chief economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ), said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “China’s economy is softer than where the government would like it to be and we want to see some good numbers soon.� Gold Rally Gold for immediate delivery climbed for a seventh day, up as much as 0.8 percent to $1,667.15 an ounce, the most since May 1. Silver futures led gains in the GSCI gauge of commodities, rising 2.6 percent. Copper jumped 1.2 percent to $7,684 a metric ton. Oil for October delivery gained for a third day on the New York Mercantile Exchange, advancing to as high as $98.29 a barrel. S&P 500 futures rose before a report that may show sales of new houses in the U.S. climbed to a 365,000 annual pace in July, their third increase in four months. A separate release, from the Labor Department, will show that claims for jobless benefits were little changed last week, according to a survey of economists. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans told reporters in Beijing today that easing policies would support economic growth around the world, including in China, broadening his call for more stimulus in the U.S. Dollar Weakens The dollar weakened against most of its major peers and the Dollar Index (HSCEI) dropped to as low as 81.284, the least since June 20. The greenback slid as much as 0.3 percent to $1.2572 per euro. South Korea’s won rose the most in two weeks to 1,130.60 per dollar and New Zealand’s currency appreciated to a two-week high of 81.87 U.S. cents. The yield on 10-year Treasuries dropped as much as two basis points to 1.67 percent, the lowest since Aug. 14, after an 11 basis-point decline yesterday. Germany’s 10-year bund yield fell five basis points to 1.41 percent. The additional yield investors demand to hold Spanish 10-year debt instead of benchmark German securities widened to more than 5 percentage points for the first time since Aug. 17. Euro-area services and manufacturing output contracted for a seventh straight month in August, according to a composite index based on a survey of purchasing managers in both industries in the 17-nation euro area. The preliminary reading for a purchasing managers’ index for China released today by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics was 47.8 after July’s final 49.3 figure. If confirmed, it would be the weakest level since November. European Stocks The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was little changed after gaining as much as 0.6 percent. Royal Ahold NV slid 3.1 percent after the Dutch retailer reported an operating margin in its domestic market that missed analysts’ estimates. Petropavlovsk Plc (POG) tumbled 15 percent, its biggest plunge in more than three years, after the gold miner posted a 90 percent drop in first-half net income from a year earlier. Anglo American Plc added 2.2 percent as the commodity producer was said to be nearing an agreement to end its 10-month dispute with Chile’s Codelco over a copper mine, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed 0.8 percent, the most in two weeks on a closing basis. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong and Russia’s Micex Index both jumped at least 1.4 percent. Benchmark gauges in South Africa and Turkey also advanced, gaining at least 0.5 percent. To contact the reporters on this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net; Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stuart Wallace at swallace6@bloomberg.net

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