Emerging Stocks Gain on U.S. Employment, Home Sales Data, Petrobras Deal

Emerging-market stocks rose, sending the benchmark index higher for a second day, after better-than- forecast employment and home sales data in the U.S., and after Petroleos Brasileiro SA agreed to sell stock to develop oil reserves.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed 0.6 percent to 995.27 at 10:48 a.m. New York time. Petrobras gained after Latin America’s largest company by market value agreed to pay Brazil $42.5 billion in new stock for the right to develop 5 billion barrels of offshore oil reserves.

South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.6 percent and the won gained to the strongest level since Aug. 19 after the International Monetary Fund said the currency was “undervalued” and raised its economic growth forecast for the nation to 6.1 percent, from a July prediction of 5.75 percent.

China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.3 percent, climbing for the first time in three days. Russia’s Micex index advanced 0.5 percent.

The 5.2 percent growth in U.S. pending home sales and 6,000 decrease in initial jobless claims follow reports yesterday showing expansion in U.S. and Chinese manufacturing, which triggered emerging-market stocks to rise the most in a month.

Car Sales

Petrobras gained 1.6 percent after agreeing to pay an average of $8.51 a barrel for offshore oil reserves after almost two weeks of negotiations with the government. Brazil’s Bovespa fell 0.3 percent to 66,843.02.

Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. surged 8.1 percent in Hong Kong, after a research group said yesterday passenger-car sales grew 59 percent in August from a year earlier, more than three times July’s pace. SAIC Motor Corp., China’s biggest carmaker, jumped 8.9 percent, the biggest gain since May 2009.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index jumped 2 percent to the highest level since Dec. 27, 2007, buoyed by accelerating economic growth and expectations the government will contain the deficit.

The difference between the return investors demand to own emerging-market government bonds over U.S. Treasuries narrowed seven basis points, or 0.07 percentage point, to 280, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s EMBI+ Index.

To contact the Bloomberg News staff on this story: Chua Kong Ho at kchua6@bloomberg.net

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