Stocks, Commodities Gain on Spanish Debt Auction, IMF

by **kppl** Tue 17 Apr 2012, 22:37

Temporary good news...hope it sustains a day or 2....

Stocks 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 Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.2 percent at 9:30 a.m. in New York and the Stoxx Europe (SXXP) 600 Index advanced 1.3 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 after U.K. consumer prices rose 3.5 percent in March, the first increase in six months.

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. Spain sold 12- month and 18-month bills a day after yields on its 10-year bonds reached the highest level this year. German’s ZEW survey of investor confidence unexpectedly rose to a two-year high.
“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 S&P 500 climbed for the first time in three days. Coca- Cola Co. rose 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.
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 6.3 percent after reporting a “significant” oil discovery in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
Repsol YPF SA, Spain’s largest oil company, dropped 6.8 percent after the Argentine government took control of one of its units. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner seized control of YPF, replacing Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Eskenazi with Planning Minister Julio De Vido.
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 was little changed versus the dollar at $1.3138.
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.

Commodities Gain
The Standard & Poor’s GSCI gauge of 24 commodities rose 0.8 percent, halting a two-day drop. Nickel and cotton climbed at least 2 percent to lead gains. Oil gained 1.9 percent to $104 .83 a barrel in New York.
The MSCI Emerging Markets was little changed. Taiwan’s TAIEX dropped 1.9 percent. China’s inbound investment fell for a fifth month, the government said. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.9 percent.
The Sensex (SENSEX) index of Indian shares 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.