Commodities fell after data showed more Americans than forecast filed for jobless benefits, while Spain’s bonds rose after the nation raised more than planned at a debt sale. U.S. equities pared declines. The S&P GSCI Index (SXXP) of raw materials lost 0.2 percent as of 11:15 a.m. in New York as gasoline, coffee and oil slumped. Spanish 10-year yields fell 12 basis points to 5.34 percent, while the rate for similar-maturity Treasuries dropped for the first time in four days. The yen weakened against all of its major counterparts. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was little changed at 1460.02, paring a drop that reached 0.4 percent earlier. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.3 percent. U.S. jobless claims rose more than forecast last week, reflecting an unwinding of adjustments for seasonal swings at the start of a quarter. Spain sold a combined 4.61 billion euros ($6 billion) of securities due in 2015, 2016 and 2022, the Bank of Spain said, compared with a maximum target of 4.5 billion euros. Europe is facing a dramatic situation and it would be fatal for governments to lessen their determination to solve the region’s financial woes, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said before a two-day summit of leaders in Brussels. Jobless claims increased by 46,000 to 388,000 in the week ended Oct. 13 from a revised 342,000 the prior period that was the lowest since February 2008, Labor Department figures showed. The median forecast of 49 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a rise in claims to 365,000. Jobless Claims The typical pattern of large increases in unadjusted claims at the start of the quarter seems to have shifted by a week in one state, causing the adjusted data to become volatile, a Labor Department spokesman said as the figures were released to the press. Philip Morris International Inc. (PM), the world’s largest publicly traded tobacco company, dropped 3 percent as earnings trailed analysts’ estimates. Morgan Stanley (MS) slipped 1 percent after reporting a loss for the third quarter. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose for a fourth day. Nestle SA (NESN) declined 2 percent after reporting nine-month sales growth that fell short of analysts’ estimates. Remy Cointreau SA (RCO) plunged 7.3 percent after France’s second-largest distiller posted first- half revenue growth that missed analysts’ projections. To contact the reporters on this story: Paul Dobson in London at pdobson2@bloomberg.net; Nikolaj Gammeltoft in New York at ngammeltoft@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net

Source