By Stephen Voss Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Oil prices advanced for a ninth day, nearing $82 a barrel, as snowstorms and freezing weather in much of the northern hemisphere boosted demand for fuels. European stocks and U.S. index futures pared losses. Crude oil for February delivery advanced as much as 0.6 percent to $81.99 in New York while natural gas in the U.K. rallied 3 percent. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index and futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed at 10:36 a.m. in London. The yen rose against 15 of the 16 most- traded currencies. Below-average temperatures from Beijing to Berlin boosted energy prices as crude reached a 14-month high, extending last year’s 78 percent advance. The National Weather Service forecast below-normal temperatures across the eastern U.S. states through Jan. 14. The Met Office said Britain endured the coldest December since 1995 and the freeze is set to continue. “Colder weather than average in the U.S., even hitting the north of Florida, has been pretty good news for oil,” said Hannes Loacker, an analyst with Raiffeisen Zentralbank Oesterreich AG in Vienna. “If the cold remains, the inventory gain we normally see in mid-January may be delayed.” Oil has rallied from a low of $32.70 in January 2009. Gas for delivery today in the U.K. rose to the equivalent of $7.42 per million British thermal units. White sugar advanced 0.8 percent to $727.70 a metric ton on the Liffe exchange in London, the highest price since at least 1989. Copper fell 0.4 percent to $7,470 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. Gold for immediate delivery rose 0.5 percent to $1,126.52 an ounce. Europe, Asia The MSCI World Index of 23 developed nations’ stocks fluctuated between gains and losses as shares in Europe fell while those in Asia gained. U.S. futures were little changed after the S&P 500 yesterday posted its biggest gain in two months. A report due at 10 a.m. in Washington may show the number of contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes fell in November for the first time in 10 months. Cadbury Plc slipped 1.7 percent in London after Kraft Foods Inc. sold a U.S. pizza unit to Nestle SA for $3.7 billion, raising cash to improve its offer for the U.K. confectioner. Tesco Plc led retailers lower, falling 2.1 percent after BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research downgraded the shares. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index advanced 1 percent, heading for its highest close since August 2008. Stock indexes of energy producing countries were among the biggest gainers, with Kazakhstan’s KASE Stock Exchange index climbing 2.1 percent in its first day of trading this year. IMF Forecast The International Monetary Fund will boost its forecast for global economic growth this year from 3.1 percent as government efforts to prevent a wider financial crisis were successful, Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky said. Central banks, including the Federal Reserve, are exploring ways to end programs that have bolstered the financial system. “We are now nearing the end of our fiscal and monetary ability to bail out the system, and some longer-term liquidity measures are already being unwound,” Simon Ballard, a strategist at Royal Bank of Canada in London, wrote in a research note. “Rising public debt and withdrawal of liquidity support programs could thwart recovery.” The yen advanced 0.7 percent against the dollar and 0.6 percent compared with the euro amid speculation some Japanese exporters took advantage of its declines to convert overseas earnings back into their own currency. The won strengthened against all 16 major counterparts, trading at a 15-month high against the dollar. To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Voss in London at sev@bloomberg.net

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