U.S Stock Futures Gain; Spain, Italy Two-Year Notes Fall
Stocks (SXXP) rose, sending the benchmark European gauge to a four-month high, and commodities gained as the yen weakened. Standard Chartered (STAN) Plc tumbled the most since at least 1988 after a U.S. regulator said the lender may face a suspension of business activities.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.3 percent at 8:10 a.m. in New York, after falling 0.3 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures advanced 0.4 percent. Standard Chartered slumped 24 percent. The yen depreciated against all 16 of its major counterparts and the Dollar Index lost 0.2 percent. Germany’s 10-year bund yield rose six basis points. Copper climbed 1.1 percent and soybeans rose 0.9 percent.
Reports today showed German factory orders declined more than twice as much as economists forecast in June as sales to euro-area countries slumped, and Italy’s economy contracted for a fourth straight quarter in the three months through June. German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed a bond-buying plan announced last week by the European Central Bank, a spokesman said yesterday.
