By Stuart Wallace Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks rose in Europe and bonds and the yen dropped on signs that central banks are confident enough in the strength of the economic recovery to remove stimulus measures. The Australian and New Zealand dollars strengthened. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index of European stocks added 0.9 percent at 10:35 a.m. in London and futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index climbed 0.4 percent. The New Zealand dollar gained against all 16 of the world’s major currencies while the Australian dollar advanced against 15. Greek government debt led the decline in European bonds, driving the yield on the 10-year note higher for a sixth day. The Swiss National Bank said it will halt bond purchases designed to bolster the economy and the Bank of England may announce today that it will spend no more than the 200 billion pounds ($326 billion) already pledged to buy bonds. Australian employment soared for a third month, while U.S. jobless claims may drop for a sixth month to the lowest level since August 2008, economists said before a government report. “If we’re going to profit still from some economic recovery, then you don’t want to be in the safe sectors, but in some of the more leveraged sectors,” Florian Esterer, a money manager at Swisscanto Asset Management in Zurich, which oversees about $58 billion, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. Esterer said he’s a “selective buyer” of Greek banks. Greek Banks European shares advanced, snapping three days of declines. National Bank of Greece SA, the nation’s biggest lender, advanced 1.7 percent in Athens trading, paring yesterday’s 6.6 percent plunge. Inditex, the world’s largest clothing retailer, gained 2.1 percent in Madrid after posting third-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.8 percent. Mazda, Japan’s fourth-largest automaker, slid 3.5 percent in Tokyo while Honda Motor Co. lost 1.5 percent. Suzuki Motor Corp. dropped 5.5 percent even after Volkswagen AG said it will buy a 19.9 percent stake in the Japanese automaker. Trading in U.S. futures indicated the S&P 500 may hold on to yesterday’s 0.4 percent advance. After rising as much as 64 percent from a 12-year low on March 9, the S&P 500 is little changed since mid-October. The Dubai Financial Market General Index rose 7 percent, its steepest advance since February in a rebound from the 17 percent slide in the last three days. Emaar Properties PJSC, the developer of the world’s tallest tower in Dubai, surged 14 percent after it abandoned a merger with three real-estate units of Dubai Holding LLC. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index was little changed. Treasuries Fall U.S. Treasuries declined before the sale of $13 billion of 30-year bonds today, while German bunds fell as a report showed wholesale prices increased last month, adding to evidence the recovery in Europe’s largest economy is taking hold. Greek government bonds fell on concern following a credit- rating downgrade by Fitch Ratings on Dec. 8. The bonds of other so-called peripheral euro-region countries, including Spain, Ireland and Portugal, also fell, widening the difference in yield over benchmark German bunds. The yen declined against higher-yielding currencies after a government report showed companies in Australia added six times more jobs than economists estimated. Japan’s currency snapped three days of gains against the so-called Aussie and fell for a second day against the kiwi. Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Alan Bollard said he expects to begin raising interest rates in the middle of next year. Swiss Franc The Swiss franc was little changed against the euro and the dollar after the central bank left its target interest rate unchanged at 0.25 percent for a 10th month. The SNB began selling the franc against foreign currencies earlier this year in an effort to ward off deflation. Copper for delivery in three months fell 1.7 percent to $6,830 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. The metal has dropped for six consecutive days, the longest losing streak in a year. Aluminum, zinc and tin also weakened. Crude oil for January delivery was 1 cent higher at $70.68 a barrel in New York trading. Gold for immediate delivery dropped 0.2 percent to $1,126.63 an ounce in London. To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Wallace in London at swallace6@bloomberg.net

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