Oil heads for three-day gain on speculation surplus to fall U.S. stock-index futures pare gain as durable goods disappoint Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Emerging markets advanced, gold retreated and credit markets strengthened as the Federal Reserve’s acknowledgment of global risks reassured investors that the pace of interest rate increases remains flexible if market turmoil continues. European shares retreated as investors weighed earnings reports. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose for a second day and Gulf stocks were on course for their best week since March 2011. U.S. crude headed for a three-day advance, helping boost currencies of commodity-exporting nations. Facebook Inc.’s premarket bounce spurred gains in futures on the Nasdaq 100 Index, while Standard & Poor’s 500 Index contracts pared an advance after disappointing data on durable goods orders. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 1.4 percent. The cost of insuring corporate debt fell to a two-week low. The U.K. pound strengthened. Speculation that central banks will intervene to steady markets has helped shore up investor confidence. The Fed’s first statement since its December rate hike noted officials were “closely monitoring� developments from China to Europe for any adverse impact on the U.S. economy. China this week injected more cash into its financial system to keep borrowing costs from rising. The European Central Bank sparked an equity rally last week when President Mario Draghi signaled further stimulus may some as soon as March. “Emerging-market assets are rallying across the board today as the Fed sounded relatively dovish watching global developments,� said Bernd Berg, an emerging markets strategist in London at Societe Generale SA. “A March Fed rate hike looks increasingly unlikely now. I think we are now entering a risk-on phase and oil-related currencies will post a sizable rally.� Emerging Markets The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.7 percent at 1:38 p.m. in London, trimming this month’s slide to 9.2 percent, the worst start to a year since 2008. Benchmarks in Turkey, Poland and South Africa climbed at least 1 percent. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index of Gulf stocks advanced 2.8 percent, extending this week’s rally to 6.8 percent. Equity gauges in Saudi Arabia and Dubai jumped more than 2.5 percent on Thursday. The Shanghai Composite Index slid 2.9 percent to 2,655.66, capping a 9.6 percent retreat over three days, as concern a weakening economy will reduce corporate profits overshadowed the biggest cash injection into the financial markets in three years. Strategists and technical analysts surveyed by Bloomberg this week are targeting a bottom of 2,500 for the index after it plunged 48 percent from the June high. With thousands of companies pledging their own shares to get loans as stocks soared through mid-2015, the equity rout is forcing more of them to either provide extra collateral or sell holdings to pay back debts, according to UBS Group AG. Stocks Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index pared gains to 0.2 percent, after rising as much as 1.1 percent, as preliminary data showed a bigger-than-forecast decline in durable goods orders in December. Nasdaq futures climbed 0.6 percent after Facebook’s 14 percent surge in early New York trading. Should the social-media company’s price action be replicated in Thursday trading, shares may erase this year’s drop. U.S. stocks sank Wednesday amid an Apple Inc.-led slump in technology shares and investors are looking to economic reports Thursday for indications of the health of the world’s biggest economy and the trajectory of interest rates. Initial jobless claims fell last week more than expected, a report showed, and economists forecast that pending homes sales increased in December. Traders see a 14 percent chance of a Fed boost in March, down from 25 percent on the day before central bank’s statement, futures data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Stoxx 600 dropped 1.4 percent, erasing gains of as much as 0.3 percent. Lenders were among the biggest decliners, with Deutsche Bank AG sliding 3.8 percent after posting its first annual loss since 2008. Italian banks retreated as investors soured on a deal with the European Union to tackle bad debts. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA tumbled 8.1 percent and Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl lost 6.8 percent Hennes & Mauritz AB slipped 4 percent after fourth-quarter earnings missed analysts’ estimates. Energy producers advanced, with Seadrill Ltd. soaring 9.1 percent. A gauge of commodity-related companies pared earlier gains as Glencore Plc slid. Anglo American Plc jumped 9.5 percent after saying copper output rose 23 percent in the fourth quarter. Commodities West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.6 percent to $32.81 a barrel after gaining 6.4 percent over the past two days. It’s recovering after falling to $26.19 on Jan. 20, its lowest since 2003. The worldwide surplus will decline this year even after Iran adds an expected 500,000 barrels a day of output, United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said on his Twitter account. U.S. crude inventories increased by 8.38 million barrels last week, the biggest gain in volume since April, according to a weekly report from the Energy Information Administration. Gold slipped 0.5 percent to $1,119.02 an ounce, snapping three days of gains. Most metals retreated, with zinc falling 1.7 percent and copper down 0.9 percent. Bonds German 10-year government bonds rose for a fourth day as inflation data showed consumer prices in Europe’s biggest economy increased in January on an annual basis, but dropped month-on-month. With oil and stock markets fluctuating, potential deflation remains an investor concern. A gauge of inflation for the euro area fell Wednesday to its lowest in about a year, keeping prospects alive of more easing from the ECB. Benchmark German 10-year bund yields fell four basis points to 0.41 percent. Yields dropped four basis points in the previous three sessions. Spanish 10-year yields fell two basis points to 1.59 percent, while the five-year, five-year forward inflation-swap rate, a rolling gauge of inflation expectations, was at 1.54 percent, down from 1.81 percent on Dec. 1. The cost of insuring corporate debt fell for a third day, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. The Markit iTraxx Europe Index of credit-default swaps on 125 investment-grade companies declined to 91 basis points and the region’s high-yield gauge fell to 365 basis points. Currencies A gauge of 20 emerging-market currencies rose for a third day, gaining 0.5 percent. Russia’s ruble led the advance, climbing 1.4 percent in a third day of gains. Malaysia’s ringgit strengthened 1.2 percent, after Prime Minister Najib Razak maintained his fiscal-deficit target and announced measures to shore up an economy hit by a plunge in oil. Turkey’s lira and South Africa’s rand appreciated at 0.8 percent. The pound advanced versus most of its 16 major peers after a report showed the U.K.’s economic expansion accelerated in the fourth quarter. Britain’s economy grew 0.5 percent in the final three months of 2015, from 0.4 percent in the third quarter, matching to the median forecast of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The pound rose 0.5 percent to $1.4309, after falling to $1.4080 on Jan. 21, the lowest since March 2009.

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