Off to the races!!!

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures gained and commodities climbed a fourth day after German and French leaders pledged to devise a plan to stem Europe’s debt crisis in three weeks and as the U.S. showed signs of sustaining its economic recovery.



Europe’s 17-nation currency advanced 0.6 percent against both the dollar and yen as of 12:26 p.m. in Hong Kong. S&P 500 futures added 1 percent, while the MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index swung between gains and losses, following a three- day, 7.9 percent jump that was the most since 2009. S&P’s GSCI Index of raw materials advanced 0.4 percent, paced by oil, wheat and silver. Bond default risk declined.


German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will deliver a plan to recapitalize European banks and address the Greek debt crisis by the Nov. 3 Group of 20 summit. Belgium will buy part of failing Dexia SA and provide security for depositors. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Macroeconomic Advisers LLC raised their U.S. growth forecasts in the third quarter, after an Oct. 7 report showing a 103,000 rise in payrolls capped a string of stronger-than-projected data.


“The market was met with some above-expectations data, as well as some warm and fuzzy talk out of the EU about the banking sector, so ultimately the rally will likely continue” for the next few weeks, Nick Maroutsos, who oversees the equivalent of about $4 billion at Sydney-based Kapstream Capital, said in a Bloomberg Television interview