By Daniel Hauck Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks rose, resuming a five-month rally, as a rebound in the U.K. housing market and the takeover of Friends Provident Group Plc added to evidence the economy is recovering. Oil gained for the first time in four days. The MSCI World Index of 23 developed countries advanced 0.2 percent at 9:22 a.m. in London, extending the gain since March 9 to 54 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.2 percent. Russia’s Micex index climbed 1 percent even as the government said the economy contracted the most on record last quarter. Crude for September delivery gained 0.6 percent in New York after China’s imports rose 18 percent to a record in July. The biggest proportion of U.K. real-estate agents in two years saw increases in home values, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said today, while Resolution Ltd. agreed to buy Friends Provident for $3.1 billion. The Federal Reserve, meeting today and tomorrow, may acknowledge a better outlook for growth, economists said. U.S. productivity probably rose in the second quarter, a government report may show. “The consensus view of the economy seems to be that the recession has ended,” Robert Doll, chief investment officer at BlackRock Inc., wrote in a note to clients dated Aug. 10. “Recent data does reinforce the perception that we are seeing improvement in many areas of the economy.” The New York-based firm oversaw $1.37 trillion as of June 30. European Stocks Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 0.3 percent, extending its advance since March 9 to 46 percent. The measure is valued at 40.1 times the profits of its companies, the highest level since September 2003, weekly data compiled by Bloomberg show. Friends Provident climbed 2.3 percent after the 177-year- old U.K. life insurer agreed to be bought. “M&A is heading back,” said Herbert Perus, Vienna-based head of global equities at Raiffeisen Capital Management. “There is a lot of liquidity out there,” he told Bloomberg Television. International Power Plc advanced 5.6 percent after saying first-half net income rose 50-fold, boosted by sales in Asia and Australia. Gulf stocks led increases in equities in developing economies as oil gained, with the MSCI Emerging Market Index adding 0.1 percent. Qatar’s DSM 20 Index rose 1.9 percent, while the Dubai Financial Market General Index gained 1 percent. Crude for September delivery rose 0.6 percent to $71.01 a barrel as China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, imported 19.6 million metric tons of crude in July, or about 4.62 million barrels a day. Yen, Euro The yen gained against 13 of the 16 most-traded currencies, adding 0.3 percent versus the dollar and 0.2 percent compared with the euro, after China’s statistics bureau said industrial production grew 10.8 percent in July, below the median estimate for an 11.5 percent gain forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Treasuries fell as the U.S. government prepared to sell a record $37 billion of three-year notes, part of $75 billion of securities being auctioned this week as President Barack Obama’s administration raises unprecedented amounts of debt to revive the world’s biggest economy. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note climbed 3 basis points to 3.80 percent. White sugar for October delivery rose 1.6 percent to a record $566.50 a metric ton on the Liffe exchange in London, buoyed by speculation that a lack of rainfall in India will curb supply. Copper added 0.6 percent to $6,170 a ton on the London Metal Exchange, leading gains in metals. Gold for immediate delivery advanced 0.1 percent to $947.60 an ounce. To contact the reporters on this story: Daniel Hauck in London at dhauck1@bloomberg.net.

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