European stocks and U.S. futures fell, while Spanish 10-year bonds yields climbed above 6 percent before the results of stress tests on the country’s banks. Treasuries and commodities rose.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.8 percent at 1:59 p.m. in London. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures slipped 0.5 percent. Spanish 10-year yields added 10 basis points to 6.05 percent, while the rate on similar-maturity Treasuries slid five basis points to 1.60 percent. The S&P GSCI gauge of 24 commodities rose 0.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index rallied 1.5 percent, posting its first monthly gain since April.
Spain will present the results of stress tests on its lenders at 6 p.m. in Madrid today. Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said that the results of the tests “seem to be below the more pessimistic estimates.” U.S. consumer spending barely rose in August after adjusting for inflation and Japan’s industrial production fell more than economists had predicted, data showed.
“Today’s publication of the Wyman stress-test report on Spanish banks could well blow all of the carefully crafted calculations out of the water, if the numbers come in at the high end of expectations,” said Michael Hewson, a market analyst at CMC Markets U.K. Plc in London.
Spain’s test conducted by Oliver Wyman on 14 banking groups is a precursor to the formation of a so-called bad bank to which troubled lenders will transfer soured real estate to bolster their balance sheets. The independent stress test to assess the damage wrought by the property crash is a condition of Spain’s 100 billion-euro ($129 billion) banking bailout agreed in July.
U.S. Futures
S&P 500 futures fell, indicating the equity benchmark will retreat for the sixth time in seven days.
U.S. household purchases rose 0.5 percent, matching the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and the biggest gain since February, according to data from the Commerce Department. The gain mainly reflected a 0.4 percent jump in prices, the biggest since March 2011, leaving so-called real spending up 0.1 percent.
Research in Motion Ltd. surged 15 percent in early U.S. trading. The maker of BlackBerry mobile devices posted a fiscal second-quarter loss of 27 cents, less than the 47-cent loss that analysts had estimated.
European Stocks
The Stoxx 600 pared its rally this quarter to 7.2 percent. The London Stock Exchange Group Plc slumped 7.4 percent after saying that European Union regulations will cut income from its Italian central counterparty and may require LCH.Clearnet Group Ltd. to increase capital.
Cap Gemini SA added 1 percent and Atos gained 1.9 percent after Accenture Plc forecast full-year earnings late yesterday that exceeded analysts’ estimates. The world’s second-largest technology consulting company projected earnings of as much as $4.30 a share, exceeding the average analyst estimate of $4.13.
German 10-year bond yields declined three basis points to 1.43 percent. The securities are headed for their sixth straight quarterly advance, the longest run since 1998.
The S&P GSCI has rallied 11 percent during the third quarter, heading for its biggest gain since the first three months of 2011. Crude for November delivery was little changed at $91.86 a barrel in New York.
