European Stocks Rise as Spain, France Sell Bonds; Commerzbank Shares Climb

European stocks gained for a fourth day, extending a five-month high for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, as Spain and France sold bonds at lower yields and fewer Americans than forecast filed claims for jobless benefits.

Commercialism AG (CBK) led a rally in financial shares, surging 14 percent, after outlining measures to boost capital. Alston SA (ALO), the world’s third-largest power-equipment maker, jumped 13 percent after predicting “strong” orders in its fiscal fourth quarter.

Carefuller SA (CA), the biggest retailer in Europe by sales, dropped 1.6 percent after saying profit was at the lower end of its forecasts.

Stocks end lower; rupee firms

Pakistani stocks ended lower on Thursday as investors booked profit in blue chip companies such as Oil and Gas Development Co Ltd (OGDCL).

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s benchmark 100-share index ended 0.28 per cent, or 32.12 points, lower at 11,515.59 points.

On Wednesday, the KSE-index ended 2.15 per cent higher at 11,547.71, its highest close since Dec 1.

Volume rose to 92.47 million shares, compared with 83.73 million shares traded on Wednesday.

“After rising by more than 500 points in last few sessions, some profit-taking was seen at Karachi Stock Exchange,” said Samar Iqbal, a dealer at Topline Securities Ltd. “OGDCL, which rallied in the last session, fell by two per cent.”

Emerging Stocks Head for Two-Month High on Greek Deal Hopes

Emerging-market stocks gained, heading for a two-month high, on speculation Greece is nearing a deal to write down debt.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed 0.2 percent to 974.30 as of 12:25 p.m. London time, set for its highest since Nov. 14. The Shanghai Composite index lost 1.4 percent after rallying the most since October 2009 yesterday.

Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index rose 0.6 percent after Moody’s Investors Service upgraded the nation’s sovereign debt rating to investment grade. Benchmark indexes in Hungary and Poland gained at least 0.9 percent.

What is ‘appropriate’ pay at RBS?

Royal Bank of Scotland’s shares have slumped more than 40% over the past year – so that taxpayers currently face losses of around £23bn on their 81% stake in the bank.

RBS has shed many thousands of jobs in that period. Also it recently announced that its investment bank was performing worse than it hoped, so RBS is abandoning share trading and advising companies on takeovers – and a further 3,500 jobs will go.

Stocks extend weekend recovery

The shares market extended the weekend recovery on active follow-up support on selected counters, but the volume figure failed to expand to keep pace with increasing buying offers.

The benchmark posted a fresh rise of 98.19 points at 11,112.65 as compared to last weekend`s 11,014.46.

Proceedings of Supreme Court on NRO, notably its order directing the Prime Minister to appear in the court, triggered stray selling early, but financial support at the lower levels kept the market in a positive mood, most analysts observed.

World Bank Cuts Global Growth Forecast as Euro Region Contracts: Economy

The World Bank cut its global growth forecast by the most in three years, saying that a recession in the euro region threatens to exacerbate a slowdown in emerging markets such as India and Mexico.

The world economy will grow 2.5 percent this year, down from a June estimate of 3.6 percent, the Washington-based institution said.

The euro area may contract 0.3 percent, compared with a previous estimate of a 1.8 percent gain. The U.S. growth outlook was cut to 2.2 percent from 2.9 percent.

U.S. Stock Futures Advance on IMF Lending Plan

U.S. stock futures advanced, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will climb for a second straight day, as Goldman Sachs (GS) Group Inc. reported earnings that exceeded analysts’ projections.

Goldman Sachs, the fifth-biggest U.S. bank by assets, added 2.3 percent as the company cut costs in response to falling revenue. Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) rallied 3.4 percent as Jerry Yang’s exit may remove a barrier to find a buyer or negotiate a sale of stakes in Asian assets worth more than $10 billion.

S&P 500 futures expiring in March added 0.3 percent to 1,293.30 as of 7:54 a.m. New York time. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 31 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,451.

U.S. Market Shrinks Amid Heavy Stock Buybacks

Stocks are getting scarcer in the U.S. for the first time since the bull market began as companies cut share sales to the lowest level since 2006 and buy back equity at the fastest pace in four years.

Amgen Inc. (AMGN), Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and 1,971 other U.S. companies repurchased $397 billion of stock last year, while they issued $169 billion of new equity, data compiled by Birinyi Associates Inc. and Bloomberg show.

The combination reduced the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index divisor, a measure of outstanding shares, by 0.6 percent last quarter, the first drop since March 2009.

Slowing China GDP Boosts Scope for Easing

China’s economy expanded at the slowest pace in 10 quarters as Europe’s debt crisis curbed export demand and the property market weakened, sustaining pressure on Premier Wen Jiabao to ease monetary policy.

Gross domestic product rose 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said in Beijing today. Growth exceeded the 8.7 percent median of 26 estimates in a Bloomberg survey, staying above the 8 percent that signals a “soft landing” for China, according to SinoPac Financial Holdings Co., which correctly predicted the GDP number.

Wells Fargo Posts Higher Profit on Mortgages

Wells Fargo & Co., the largest U.S. bank by market value, posted a 20 percent increase in fourth- quarter profit, beating analyst estimates, with the company citing a boost from mortgage financing.

Net income rose to $4.11 billion, or 73 cents a share, from $3.41 billion, or 61 cents, a year earlier, the San Francisco- based company said in a statement today. That set a record and exceeded the 72-cent estimate of 31 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Revenue declined 4 percent to $20.6 billion, beating the $20 billion forecast by analysts.