BLBG:Euro Advances With Spanish Bonds as Commodities Climb
The euro strengthened the most in a week against the dollar, Spanish bonds advanced and oil gained for the first time in five days as commodities pared a weekly decline.
The euro appreciated 0.4 percent to $1.3022 at 6:30 a.m. in New York, after climbing as much as 0.6 percent. The yield on Spain’s 10-year bonds dropped as low as 5.70 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) rose less than 0.1 percent and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures gained 0.3 percent. India’s Sensex jumped 2.2 percent, the most among benchmarks tracked by Bloomberg worldwide. Nickel increased 1.3 percent and oil trimmed the biggest weekly decline in more than three months.
Global equity funds lured the largest weekly inflows this year, Citigroup Inc. said, after the U.S. Federal Reserve unveiled another round of so-called quantitative easing on Sept. 13 and the European Central Bank pledged a week earlier to buy bonds to contain the debt crisis. European policy makers will unveil a financial bailout program for Spain as early as next week, the Financial Times said today. Stocks retreated earlier this week after reports signaled economies are slowing.
“The near-term burst of negativity has caused some jittery investors to push the sell trigger and now there are those taking advantage of this opportunity to add to their holdings,” Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at BDO Unibank Inc. in Manila, said in a telephone interview. “Some of the liquidity released by recent monetary easing will be plowed into emerging markets.”
The euro gained against 11 of its 16 major counterparts, advancing 0.5 percent versus the yen.
Spanish Bonds
The yield on Spain’s 10-year bonds dropped two basis points to 5.75 percent. Germany’s benchmark 10-year bund yields rose four basis points to 1.62 percent. Treasuries snapped a four-day advance, leaving the 10-year note yield at 1.78 percent.
The Stoxx 600 pared earlier gains, leaving the gauge 0.3 percent lower this week. Vedanta Resources Plc climbed 2.7 percent and Swiss Life Holding AG gained 1.5 percent. Stocks may be more volatile than usual today as futures and options contracts on equity indexes expire in a process known as quadruple witching.
The increase in S&P 500 (SPX) futures indicated the U.S. equities gauge will trim this week’s 0.4 percent decline. Apple Inc. rose 0.2 percent in German trading as the iPhone 5 went on sale around the world.
Commodities Gain
The S&P GSCI gauge of 24 commodities rose 0.7 percent, paring the drop for this week to 4.5 percent, the first weekly decline since the July 27 and the biggest since June 1. Oil for November delivery advanced as much as 1.2 percent to $93.48 a barrel in New York. Wheat gained 1.2 percent after Russia’s Economy Minister Andrei Belousov said the nation may consider limiting grain exports if domestic prices keep rising.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index (MXEF) increased 1 percent, paring its first weekly drop this month. Indian shares rallied the most in a week after the government changed tax rules on overseas loans, extending policy reforms announced last week, and the third-biggest party pledged to support the government. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies increased 1 percent and Russia’s Micex Index gained 0.5 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Justin Carrigan at jcarrigan@bloomberg.net
