BP Plc, Europe’s second-largest oil company, Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia’s second-biggest oil producer, and Exxon Mobil Corp. gained more than 2 percent as crude advanced for a second day. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings Inc. jumped 8.3 percent in Tokyo on speculation it will combine with two rivals. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index rose for the first time in six days, adding 0.2 percent at 10:07 a.m. in London. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 1.5 percent, while futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.2 percent. “We’ve touched a point of entry for the market,” Benoit de Broissia, an equity analyst at KBL Richelieu Gestion in Paris, which oversees about $5.7 billion, said in a television interview. “However movements this week aren’t very significant as volume is light.” The Stoxx 600 has slumped 47 percent this year, the biggest annual decline on record, as credit-related losses and writedowns at financial firms that topped $1 trillion pushed the U.S., Europe and Japan into the first simultaneous recessions since World War II. The MSCI World Index of 23 developed countries is valued at 11.6 times the earnings of its 1,693 companies, compared with an average ratio of 26.5 this decade, data compiled by Bloomberg show. This year’s slump has left S&P 500 companies valued at an average of 12.6 times operating profit, the cheapest since at least 1998, monthly data compiled by Bloomberg show. ‘Prices Look Appealing’ “The recession will obviously affect earnings but some industries have already discounted such a scenario,” Alessandro Capuano, a trader with IG Markets in London, said on Bloomberg Television. “Prices look appealing.” BP added 4.2 percent to 517 pence. The London-based energy company trades at 4.9 times earnings, compared with an average ratio of 16.7 since the start of this decade, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Woodside climbed 5.7 percent to A$34.77. Inpex Corp., Japan’s largest oil explorer, rose 6.4 percent to 664,000 yen. Exxon, the biggest U.S. energy company, increased 2.1 percent to $78.78 in Germany. Oil jumped for a second day in New York after Israeli air strikes in the Gaza strip raised concerns that supply may be disrupted from the Middle East, the world’s largest producing region. Crude for February delivery rose as much as 12 percent to $42.20 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. ‘Heavyweight Commodity Sectors’ Imperial Energy Plc rallied 6.9 percent to 1,090 pence. The U.K. explorer operating in Siberia is approaching the 90 percent level of acceptances needed for its takeover by ONGC Videsh, part of India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corp., the Financial Times reported, without saying where it got the information. “With many not returning back to work until the new year, we could be in store for yet another quiet week,” Jimmy Yates, a dealer at CMC Markets in London, wrote in a note. “We may have to rely on oil and metals prices to move the heavyweight commodity sectors.” Gold advanced to an 11-week high and copper climbed from the lowest in four years. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third- biggest mining company, surged 5.9 percent to 1,456 pence. Lonmin Plc, the third-largest platinum producer, jumped 6.9 percent to 920.5 pence. Japanese Insurers Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance surged 8.3 percent to 2,885 yen. The company, Aioi Insurance Co. and Nissay Dowa General Insurance Co. are in talks to create Japan’s largest non-life insurer, two people familiar with the negotiations said. Spokesmen from the three companies said they didn’t have any announcement to make. Aioi Insurance jumped 19 percent to 484 yen, the biggest advance on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index today. Nissay Dowa rose 15 percent to 578 yen. Elpida Memory Inc., Japan’s No. 1 computer-memory chipmaker, soared 13 percent to 585 yen. The company has begun merger talks with Taiwanese chipmakers including Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., Yukio Sakamoto, chief executive officer of Tokyo-based Elpida, said in an interview on Dec. 26, without elaborating.

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