By Stephen Kirkland April 4 (Bloomberg) -- Commodities rose to a two-year high on evidence economic growth is being sustained, while more than $20 billion of takeovers spurred gains in stocks for a second day. U.S. index futures advanced. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 raw materials climbed 0.6 percent at 7:10 a.m. in New York as silver jumped to a 31-year high and wheat rallied. The MSCI World Index increased 0.3 percent and S&P 500 Index futures rose 0.3 percent. The German 10-year bund fell for the eighth day, the longest retreat in almost five years, and Portugal’s 10-year bond yield advanced for a 10th day. European default risk sank to a three-year low. The New Zealand dollar strengthened against 13 of its 16 peers. Vivendi SA agreed to take over mobile-phone operator SFR, while Belgium’s Solvay SA bid for Rhodia SA and Minmetals Resources Ltd. of China offered to buy Equinox Minerals Ltd., bringing deals to more than $630 billion this year, up 25 percent from a year earlier. The European Central Bank may raise interest rates this week to contain inflation. U.S. payrolls grew more than forecast and the unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped last month, the Labor Department said April 1. “There is further evidence of the U.S. economy laying the platform for a self-sustaining recovery,” said Tim Schroeders, a Melbourne-based money manager at Pengana Capital Ltd., which manages about $1 billion. Oil climbed to a 30-month high, rising as much as 0.8 percent to $108.78 a barrel in New York. Copper advanced 1.1 percent, lead jumped as much as 2.6 percent to the highest since April 2008 and corn rose to a two-year high. Cocoa rallied 1.3 percent as the fight for control of the commercial capital of Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer, entered a fifth day. Rhodia, Vodafone The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.2 percent, the eighth increase in nine days. Rhodia rallied 49 percent, a record gain, after agreeing to be bought by Belgian soda ash maker Solvay for 3.4 billion euros ($4.8 billion). Vodafone Group Plc climbed 0.8 percent after selling its 44 percent holding in SFR, France’s second-largest mobile-phone operator, to Vivendi for 7.95 billion euros, more than analysts had estimated. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA fell 2.5 percent after La Stampa reported the Italian bank may raise 2 billion euros in new capital. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index gained 0.6 percent to the highest since June 2008. Benchmark gauges in Turkey, India, Thailand, the Philippines and Hong Kong jumped at least 1 percent. Mainland China’s markets were closed for the tomb- sweeping holiday. The MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5 percent, even as the Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey showed the country’s large manufacturers expect business confidence to slump in the coming months. $6.5 Billion Offer Equinox Minerals surged 29 percent in Sydney after Minmetals, the Hong Kong unit of China’s biggest metals trader, made an unsolicited C$6.3 billion ($6.5 billion) offer. The yield on the German bund climbed two basis points to 3.39 percent, while the 10-year Portuguese yield increased four basis points to 8.56 percent. The difference in yield between French 10-year indexed-linked bonds and their nominal equivalents, a gauge of investor inflation expectations, advanced to a record 251 basis points. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note gained two basis points to 3.47 percent. The Markit iTraxx Crossover Index of credit-default swaps on 40 companies with mostly high-yield credit ratings declined 3 basis points to 370, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. That’s the lowest level since a previous version of the index closed at 368 basis points Jan. 3, 2008. The New Zealand dollar strengthened 0.2 percent against the euro and the yen amid gains by commodities. --With assistance from Claudia Carpenter, Abigail Moses, Andrew Rummer, Dan Tilles and Jason Webb in London. Editors: Stephen Kirkland, Justin Carrigan To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Sillitoe at psillitoe@bloomberg.net.

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