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By Bloomberg

European stocks fell for a fourth day, led by mining companies, and U.S. equity-index futures pared gains. Italian bonds rose after a second round of targeted loans boosted the case for quantitative easing and oil rebounded from a five-year low.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 0.6 percent at 6:58 a.m. in New York. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.1 percent, after the gauge slid 1.6 percent. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.1 percent, recovering some of yesterday’s 4.5 percent drop. Italy’s 10-year yield fell three basis points to 2.04 percent. Norway’s krone tumbled 0.8 percent per euro after the central bank unexpectedly cut its overnight deposit rate, while the ruble fell to a record after Russia raised its key rate in line with estimates.

About $1 trillion was erased from the value of global equities in the past three days as oil prices tumbled, helping boost demand at the sale of 10-year Treasuries to the highest in 21 months. The ECB’s second round of long-term loans came in at the low end of analysts’ estimates. Reports today will probably show U.S. retail sales picked up in November while jobless claims were little changed last week, according to Bloomberg surveys.

“Although investors are having all kinds of uncertainty thrown at them, the case for investing has not changed,” said Francois Savary, chief investment officer at Reyl & Cie. in Geneva. “The U.S. is giving us strong signs of growth and Europe is back on the path of recovery. There is more pessimism coming into the end of this year but the buyers are still there.”

U.S.,Stocks

Futures on the S&P 500 expiring this month gained, indicating the index will rebound after its worst slump in almost two months sent to it its lowest level since Nov. 5.

Commodity producers fell for a sixth day, the longest streak since September. Roubini Global Economics LLC said iron ore may drop to less than $60 a metric ton next year. Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest miners, lost more than 1.5 percent. Anglo American Plc fell 2.4 percent to a five-year low, while Glencore Plc dropped 3.3 percent.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV slumped 7.2 percent after the automaker sold shares. Inditex SA gained 4 percent after the world’s largest clothing retailer said sales grew 14 percent between Nov. 1 and Dec. 8 in local currencies, compared with an 11 percent gain in the first nine months of the fiscal year.

Telecom Italia SpA advanced 2.8 percent. Telefonica SA, Oi SA and Claro SA plan to make an offer for Tim Participacoes SA, according to people familiar with the matter. The Italian company owns 67 percent of Rio de Janeiro-based Tim.

Emerging Markets

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell for a fifth day, dropping 0.7 percent.

Dubai stocks led declines in the Gulf region, with the DFM General Index tumbling 7.3 percent to the lowest level since January. Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index slid 4.4 percent and Qatar’s benchmark gauge lost 3.5 percent.

The Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.5 percent, after gaining as much as 0.9 percent and falling as much as 1.6 percent. The index’s 10-day volatility surged to the highest level since 2009. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 1 percent.

Money manager Mark Mobius said the bull market in Chinese stocks is just getting started and he’s using the biggest price swings in five years to boost holdings.

“We are buying more in China because we think this is the beginning of a longer-term bull run,” Mobius, who oversees about $40 billion as the executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group, said in a phone interview yesterday from Thailand.

The ruble fell as much as 1.1 percent to 55.455 per dollar before trading 0.8 percent weaker, after Bank of Russia raised its key rate to 10.5 percent, in line with the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The Micex Index of stocks slipped 1.3 percent while the 10-year yield fell 19 basis points to 12.52 percent, extending yesterday’s 26 basis point drop.

Yen Weakens

Norway’s krone weakened through 9 per euro for the first time since 2009 after the Norges Bank cut its overnight deposit rate by 0.25 percentage point to 1.25 percent. Only one of the 17 economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted the move, while the rest saw unchanged rates.

The yen weakened 0.7 percent versus the dollar on speculation Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party will win an election this weekend and extend measures that have weighed on the currency. It declined after rallying more than 3 percent in the past three days.

30-Year Sale

The yield on 10-year Treasury notes fell one basis point to 2.15 percent, before today’s auction of 30-year securities.

The bid-to-cover ratio, which gauges demand by comparing total bids with the amount of securities offered, was 2.97 at yesterday’s offering of 10-year debt, the highest since March 2013, versus an average of 2.69 at the past 10 sales.

Spain’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to 1.85 percent and Portugal’s rate also slid two basis points, to 2.94 percent.

The ECB said it allotted 130 billion euros ($161 billion) to euro-area banks at a fixed interest rate of 0.15 percent in its targeted longer-term refinancing operation. Estimates in a Bloomberg News survey ranged from 90 billion euros to 250 billion euros, with a median of 148 billion euros.

Germany’s 10-year yield fell to a record-low 0.664 percent and the 30-year yield dropped below 1.5 percent for the first time. The rate on 10-year U.K. gilts declined five basis points to 1.86 percent. Germany’s

Credit-default swaps insuring $10 million of Greek debt for five years were quoted at $2.9 million upfront and $500,000 annually, according to CMA. That’s signals a 52 percent probability of default within that time.

WTI rose to $61.60 a barrel and Brent jumped 1.3 percent to $65.04. Gold and silver declined as the dollar strengthened for the first time this week and investors speculated that low oil prices will restrain inflation. Bullion futures dropped 0.7 percent to $1,220.50 an ounce and silver declined 1 percent.

Copper advanced, while lead, aluminum and nickel fell.