April 17 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks rose for a second day as U.S. equity futures and commodities advanced after Spain sold more debt than targeted and the International Monetary Fund increased its forecasts for economic growth. The pound strengthened as U.K. inflation unexpectedly accelerated. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 1.4 percent at 9:13 a.m. in New York. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures gained 0.7 percent. The yield on the Spanish 10-year bond fell 17 basis points to 5.90 percent, with the similar-maturity Italian yield 11 basis points lower. The pound strengthened against 12 of its 16 most-traded peers. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.9 percent. Spain sold 12-month and 18-month bills a day after yields on its 10-year bonds climbed to the highest level this year. U.K. consumer prices rose 3.5 percent in March, the first increase in six months, the Office for National Statistics said today. German's ZEW survey of investor confidence unexpectedly rose to a two-year high. S&P 500 futures extended gains as the IMF increased its outlook for global growth in 2012 to 3.5 percent from 3.3 percent and lifted its forecast for the U.S. expansion to 2.1 percent from 1.8 percent. "Today is a decent day in building investor confidence," said Kit Juckes, head of foreign exchange at Societe Generale SA in London. "Better data out of Germany and decent support for Spain's bill auction have at least stopped the rot for now." Oil Discovery The Stoxx 600 extended its rebound from four straight weeks of losses. Banco Santander SA, Spain's biggest lender, and London-based Barclays Plc helped lead banking shares to the biggest advance among 19 industries. Afren Plc soared 6 percent after reporting a "significant" oil discovery in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Repsol YPF SA dropped 6.6 percent after the Argentine government took control of one of its units. Repsol, Spain's largest oil company, fell as much as 9 percent, the most since October 2008. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner seized control of YPF, replacing Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Eskenazi with Planning Minister Julio De Vido. The gain in S&P 500 futures indicated the U.S. equities gauge will climb for the first time in three days. Coca-Cola Co. rose 1.6 percent after profit topped estimates, helped by demand in North America. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advanced after reporting earnings that beat estimates and boosting its dividend by 31 percent. Euro, Yen The euro gained against the yen as Spain sold 3.18 billion euros of bills, compared with a maximum target of 3 billion euros. The shared currency slipped 0.1 percent to $1.3128. Germany's ZEW Center for European Economic Research's index of investor and analyst expectations, which aims to predict economic developments six months in advance, increased to 23.4 from 22.3 in March. Economists forecast a drop to 19, according to the median of 39 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Japan said it will provide $60 billion to the International Monetary Fund's effort to expand its resources and shield the global economy against any deepening of Europe's debt crisis. Finance Minister Jun Azumi made the commitment while speaking to reporters in Tokyo today before semiannual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington April 20-22. The cost of insuring European corporate debt fell, with the Markit iTraxx Crossover Index of credit-default swaps on 50 mostly junk-rated companies declining 18.5 basis points to 661.5. Commodities Gain The Standard & Poor's GSCI gauge of 24 commodities rose 0.3 percent, halting a two-day drop. Nickel climbed 1.8 percent and cotton advanced 1.2 percent. Oil gained 0.8 percent to $103.78 a barrel in New York. The MSCI Emerging Markets index fell 0.2 percent, with Taiwan's TAIEX dropping 1.9 percent. China's inbound investment fell for a fifth month, the government said. The Sensex in India rose 1.2 percent on a higher-than- forecast benchmark interest rate cut. The Reserve Bank of India cut the repurchase rate by 0.5 percentage points to 8 percent, as predicted by three of 25 economists in a Bloomberg survey. --With assistance from Paul Armstrong, Daniel Tilles, Andrew Rummer and Ash Kumar in London and Michael P. Regan in New York. Editor: Michael P. Regan To contact the reporters on this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net; Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael P. Regan at mregan12@bloomberg.net

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