Asian Stocks Snap Six-Day Rally

By Shiyin Chen - Oct 14, 2011 1:30 PM GMT+0700
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Taiwan’s Taiex Index retreated 0.7 percent. Photographer: Maurice Tsai/Bloomberg

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Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Gao Ting, chief China strategist at UBS Securities in Shanghai, talks about China's economy. The nation's inflation exceeded 6 percent for a fourth month as officials across Asia struggle to cool prices even as growth slows. Gao speaks with Rishaad Salamat on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move Asia." (Source: Bloomberg)

European and U.S. stock futures rallied before Group of 20 finance ministers meet to discuss the debt crisis and data forecast to show retail sales and consumer sentiment improved in the world’s largest economy. Copper gained, driving an index of commodities toward a second weekly advance.

Euro Stoxx 50 Index futures jumped 1 percent at 7:20 a.m. in London. Those on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.3 percent, while Nasdaq-100 Index contracts rose 0.5 percent after Google Inc.’s sales beat estimates. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 0.7 percent, halting the biggest six-day rally since 2009. The euro strengthened 0.2 percent versus the yen and dollar, erasing earlier losses. Copper climbed 2.3 percent, leading the S&P GSCI Index higher. Oil increased 0.7 percent in New York.

U.S. data may show consumer confidence rose while retail sales increased at the fastest pace in six months. Nations from China to Brazil are considering increasing the International Monetary Fund’s lending resources to help stem the European debt crisis, G-20 and IMF officials said. That helped counter concern Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis will worsen, after S&P cut Spain’s credit ranking and Fitch Ratings downgraded UBS AG, Lloyds Banking Group Plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shiyin Chen in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net.