By David Merritt May 18 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks rose for the first time in four days, U.S. index futures gained and copper rebounded from the biggest slump in 15 months. The euro traded near its weakest level since April 2006 as German investor confidence waned. The MSCI World Index of 23 developed nations’ stocks climbed 0.4 percent at 12:26 p.m. in London, its first advance since May 12. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.5 percent. Copper rose 3 percent, paring yesterday’s 6.5 percent slump. The euro traded little changed at $1.2417, erasing a 0.7 percent decline earlier today.. Stocks in Europe gained after the European Union transferred 14.5 billion euros ($18 billion) to Greece, the first installment from an almost $1 trillion emergency loan package aimed at preventing sovereign defaults. U.S. builders will probably say that April had the most housing starts since 2008, economists said before a report today. “Global growth momentum is robust,” JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s London-based head of European equity strategy Mislav Matejka wrote in a report to investors today, adding he expects further earnings upgrades. “The positive drivers for stocks are still tracking.” The ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim, Germany, said its index of investor and analyst expectations dropped to 45.8 from 53 in April as the debt crisis threatened to break up the euro zone. Economists expected a slide to 47, according to the median of 35 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. China Rebound The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 1 percent as shares of banks and basic resources companies rebounded. Banco Santander SA, Spain’s biggest lender, gained 3.5 percent in Madrid, snapping a three-day, 11 percent plunge. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third-largest mining company, rallied 2.5 percent in London. British Land Co. Plc, the U.K.’s second-largest real estate investment trust, jumped 3.1 percent after reporting its first annual profit in two years. Electrolux AB reached the highest level on record in Stockholm as a report late yesterday showed shipments of major home appliances in the U.S. rose 12.1 percent in April. China’s Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.4 percent, rebounding from its biggest plunge since August yesterday, when the gauge tumbled 5.1 percent. Most Asian stocks declined, sending the MSCI Asia Pacific Index down 0.3 percent. Korea Zinc Co., the world’s No. 2 zinc smelter, lost 6.2 percent in Seoul. Mitsubishi Corp., which gets 40 percent of its sales from commodities, lost 1.6 percent to 2,031 yen in Tokyo. Macarthur Coal Ltd. plunged 16 percent in Sydney after rejecting a takeover offer. Housing Starts The gain in U.S. futures indicated the S&P 500 may extend its 0.1 percent advance yesterday, when the index started to recover from a 1.9 percent decline on May 14. Housing starts probably rose 3.8 percent to a 650,000 annual rate last month, according to the median forecast of 76 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before the report from the Commerce Department due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. The report may also show building permits, a sign of future construction, grew at a 680,000 annual rate, matching the pace in March that was the highest since October 2008, according to the survey median. A separate report may show producer prices rose 0.1 percent in April. Fidelity National Fidelity National Information Services Inc. tumbled 8.9 percent in early New York trading after takeover talks with private-equity firms fell apart, according to people familiar with the situation, scuttling what would have been the biggest leveraged buyout in almost three years. Copper for delivery in three months rose to $6,665 a metric ton, after declining 6.6 percent yesterday. Aluminum, nickel and zinc also gained. Gold for immediate delivery fell 1.2 percent to $1,208.05 an ounce in London. The metal reached a record $1,249.40 on May 14. The S&P GSCI Index advanced 1.8 percent, after falling 2.8 percent to a three-month low of 487.395 yesterday. Crude oil rose for first time in six days on forecasts that demand is picking up in the U.S, after prices yesterday dipped below $70 a barrel to a five-month low in New York. Crude for June delivery gained as much as $1.91, or 2.7 percent, to $71.99 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was last at $71.92. Bund Yield The 16-nation euro fell to as low as $1.2315 after slumping yesterday to $1.2235, the weakest level since April 2006. The bund yield climbed one basis point to 2.87 percent after increasing to 2.91 percent. The yield on the 10-year German bunds, Europe’s benchmark debt security, rose 1 basis point. Greek 10-year bonds advanced, sending the yield down 27 basis points to 8 percent. U.K. government bonds fell, with the yield on the 10-year gilt climbing 4 basis points to 3.78 percent, as inflation accelerated more than economists forecast in April to the fastest pace since 2008, enough to prompt a public letter of explanation from Bank of England Governor Mervyn King. The pound weakened 0.3 percent to 85.92 pence per euro. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index gained 0.4 percent, its first advance in three days. Life Healthcare Group Holdings Ltd., the South African hospital owner, said it will start selling today as much as 8.04 billion rand ($1.06 billion) of shares in what would be Africa’s biggest initial public offering. To contact the reporter on this story: David Merritt in London on dmerritt1@bloomberg.net

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