May 28 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks advanced for a third day, led by emerging markets, extending the rebound from a nine-month low. Oil rallied above $75 a barrel and the South Korean won strengthened. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 1.7 percent as of 12:03 p.m. in London, poised for the biggest three-day rally in a year. The MSCI World Index, a gauge of equities in 24 developed nations, added 0.6 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 0.1 percent. Crude increased for a third day. South Korea’s won gained 2.4 percent against the dollar and the euro strengthened 0.4 percent against the dollar.
This week’s advances in stocks and commodities pared a rout in May that’s the deepest since October 2008, the month after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. U.S. consumer spending probably rose in April for a seventh consecutive month as incomes improved, economists said before a Commerce Department report scheduled for later today.
“I’m an optimist,” James Bevan, chief investment officer at CCLA Investment Management, said in a Bloomberg Television mounting tension with North Korea over the sinking of one of the South’s warships. The ruble in Russia, the world’s largest energy exporter, strengthened 0.9 percent versus the dollar.
The euro rose for a second day against the dollar, strengthening 0.4 percent to $1.2411. It appreciated 0.6 percent compared with the yen, which declined against all 16 of its most-traded counterparts. The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against six trading partners, slid 0.2 percent.
U.S. Futures
Futures on the S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent before reports on U.S. personal spending, business activity and consumer confidence. Spending probably increased in April for a seventh consecutive month as incomes improved, economists said before a report due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington.
Other data today may show the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc.’s business barometer, due at 9:45 a.m., fell to 61 from a five-year high of 63.8 in April. At 9:55 a.m., a report from Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan may show its consumer sentiment index climbed to 73.3 this month from 72.2 in April.
Crude oil for July delivery gained 1.1 percent to $75.35 a barrel in New York trading. Copper for delivery in three months was 0.4 percent higher at $7,015 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. Aluminum and zinc also rose. Gold for immediate delivery added 0.2 percent to $1,214.45 an ounce, rising for a fifth consecutive day.
Bonds Rise
Government bonds rose, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury falling four basis points to 3.32 percent. The yield on the German bund, Europe’s benchmark government security, dropped three basis points to 2.68 percent.
The cost of protecting against a default on European corporate bonds fell, with the Markit iTraxx Crossover Index of credit-default swaps on 50 mostly junk-rated companies declining 14.75 basis points to 545.5, according to Markit Group Ltd. Contracts tied to Greece’s government debt dropped 15.5 basis points to 670.5, after climbing as high as 941 on May 6 at the height of the country’s debt crisis, CMA DataVision prices show.
Credit markets froze this month, with global companies selling the smallest amount of bonds in a decade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Borrowers issued $61.1 billion of notes in currencies from dollars to yen, a third of April’s tally and the least since December 2000. The extra yield investors demand to hold the securities instead of benchmark government debt widened 44 basis points to 193, Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data show, the biggest increase since the aftermath of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s collapse.
