Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The MSCI World stock index fell for the first time in eight days on speculation the advance has outpaced the prospects for earnings growth. Commodities dropped, while the yen advanced. The MSCI World Index of 23 developed markets slipped 1 percent at 10:15 a.m. in London. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 0.9 percent. Copper fell 2.6 percent and oil decreased 1.2 percent. The yen strengthened against all 16 most- traded currencies tracked by Bloomberg. Equities retreated after China, the world’s fastest growing major economy, said it is probing U.S. sales of chicken and auto products for “unfair trade practices,” two days after the U.S. imposed tariffs on Chinese tires. Signs that the global economy is recovering from its first recession since World War II have prompted a six-month rally that pushed the MSCI World to its most expensive level in more than six years. “What we are seeing today is extreme nervousness,” Puru Saxena, who oversees about $260 million as chief executive officer of Puru Saxena Ltd. in Hong Kong, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “Most people are convinced we are going to have another autumn crash.” The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index of European shares fell 1.4 percent, led by raw-material producers. A 51 percent surge since March 9 has driven valuations on the gauge to 46.8 times profit, the highest level since 2003, weekly Bloomberg data show. Government Bailouts The MSCI World of 23 developed nations trades at 27.3 times the profits of its 1,659 companies after a 61 percent advance. Stocks rallied as the Group of 20 countries committed $12 trillion to help end the global recession, according to the International Monetary Fund, while the Federal Reserve has held its target rate for overnight lending between banks at near zero to unlock credit markets after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. “If you’d asked me to predict what would’ve happened in the year following Lehman, it’s fair to say that I would’ve got the vast majority of it wrong,” Gary Jenkins, an analyst at Evolution Securities Ltd. in London, wrote in a note to clients. “I wouldn’t have thought that equities or credit would have recovered in price and spread terms as quickly as they have.” Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, said governments around the world have failed to rein in the banking industry in the year since the collapse of Lehman roiled financial markets. The European Central Bank warned last week that protectionism risks hampering trade and undermining government efforts to resuscitate growth. BHP, Rio BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, slid 2.4 percent in London. Rio Tinto Group, the third-largest, declined 3.1 percent as copper, nickel and zinc retreated on the London Metal Exchange. Rubber futures slumped the most in nine months as the U.S. placed tariffs on 35 percent on $1.8 billion of tires from China. Rubber for February delivery on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange closed 9.2 percent lower. Copper fell for a fourth day in London, sliding $151.50 a metric ton to 6,098.50 a ton. Crude oil in New York retreated 83 cents to $68.46 a barrel. The yen gained most against high-yielding currencies, strengthening 1.4 percent versus the New Zealand dollar and 1.3 percent against the Brazilian real. New Zealand’s currency dropped against all of its 16 most-traded counterparts, losing the most in two weeks versus the dollar, after retail sales unexpectedly dropped 0.5 percent in July. German Sale Government bonds were little changed, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note holding at 3.34 percent and the 10-year German bund yield 1 basis point higher at 3.25 percent. Germany plans to raise as much as $4 billion today in its first issue of debt in dollars since 2005, according to Deutsche Bank AG, one of the sale managers. The Micex index of stocks in Russia, the world’s biggest energy-exporting economy, dropped 1.9 percent. The benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 1.4 percent, the most in a month. Poland’s zloty declined to a seven-week low, depreciating as much as 1.7 percent, as an unexpected current-account deficit and worsening public finances fueled concern Poland’s economy is deteriorating. The currency is the worst performer among 26 emerging-market currencies tracked by Bloomberg. To contact the reporters on this story: Daniel Hauck in London at

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