Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Emerging-market stocks rose for the first time in four days, paring a weekly loss as earnings reports outweighed concerns the global economic recovery is slowing after U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly gained. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed 0.4 percent to 979.57 at 12:59 p.m. in London. The gauge has slid 3 percent this week, the first drop in four weeks. South Korea's Kospi Index gained 1.4 percent. Russian stocks lost 0.5 percent, led by declines in OAO Sberbank and OAO Gazprom, as European shares fell on concerns about the Greek and Spanish economies. The Czech koruna and the Polish zloty fell. Genting Bhd., Asia's second-biggest listed casino operator, surged 6.2 percent in Kuala Lumpur after its Singapore unit reported second-quarter profit of S$396.5 million ($291 million) compared with a loss a year earlier. Tata Steel Ltd., India's largest producer, added 1.4 percent after it turned to a first- quarter profit and Korean Air Lines Co., an air-cargo carrier, climbed 2.8 percent after reporting a record operating profit. "We saw down days in the last few days, there's some bargain hunting today, boosted by earnings such as Genting, which made a lot of difference and helped in the overall index movement," said Pankaj Kumar, who oversees about $560 million as chief investment officer of Kurnia Insurans Malaysia Bhd. Still, "the headwinds that come from the U.S. will still have implications on the outlook." U.S. jobless claims rose by 2,000 to 484,000 in the week ended Aug. 7, the highest since February, according to the Labor Department. Economists had forecast claims would fall to 465,000, according to the median of 42 projections in a Bloomberg News survey. China China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.2 percent, trimming the steepest weekly loss in more than a month to 1.9 percent, on the prospect the government won't further tighten lending and property curbs given the slowdown in the economy. KGHM Polska Miedz SA, Poland's only copper producer, rose as much as 4.5 percent after it said second quarter-profit almost doubled on higher metal prices. Hungarian shares retreated 0.8 percent and Polish equities fell 0.5 percent. In Moscow, Sberbank, Russia's biggest lender, lost 0.6 percent. Gazprom, the world's largest natural gas producer, fell 0.9 percent. Crude oil for September last traded 0.1 percent higher at $75.81 per barrel after rising as much as 1.3 percent earlier.

Source