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By Bloomberg

U.S. equity-index futures rose and Treasuries declined after jobless claims dropped more than forecast. European stocks fell as Germany’s inflation rate turned negative for the first time in more than five years.

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.4 percent at 8:36 a.m. in New York. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.2 percent, trimming its best start to a year since 1989. Banks led gains in Greek shares as the government moved to contain the fallout from pledges made by its ministers. The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose four basis points to 1.76 percent. The Australian dollar and Turkish lira fell amid speculation of more easing in monetary policy. Gold dropped 1.1 percent to $1,270.90 an ounce. Oil fluctuated near the lowest level in almost six years.

The fewest Americans in almost 15 years filed applications for unemployment benefits, Labor Department data showed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday capped its worst two-day slump in almost a year amid falling energy shares, while the Federal Reserve said its considering when to raise benchmark borrowing costs. Stocks declined in Europe after prices in the region’s largest economy fell 0.5 percent in January from a year earlier, the lowest rate since September 2009, according to the statistics office data.

“We remain overweight equities,” said Gunther Westen, who helps oversee about $28 billion as head of asset allocation and fund management at Meriten Investment Management GmbH in Dusseldorf, Germany. “So far earnings have been mixed. Markets have been focused on the problems related to lower oil, but we expect to see the positive impact soon and are quite confident that we’ll see that push equity prices further.”

U.S. Earnings

Jobless claims plunged by 43,000 to 265,000 in the week ended Jan. 24, the lowest since April 2000. The median forecast of 51 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 300,000.

Visa Inc. and Google Inc. are among S&P 500 companies reporting earnings. About 77 percent of the gauge’s 158 companies that have posted earnings this season have beaten analyst estimates, while 56 percent have topped sales projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Dow Chemical Co. gained 3.6 percent in early New York trading after earnings beat analyst forecasts.

Qualcomm Inc. dropped 7.8 percent after the biggest maker of mobile-phone chips cut its 2015 forecast for revenue and profit. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. fell 7 percent after revenue missed estimates.

The S&P 500 fell 2.7 percent in two days, leaving it down 2.8 percent this month.

Three shares advanced for every two that declined in the Stoxx 600, with trading volumes 48 percent higher than the 30- day average, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The gauge has climbed 7 percent this month.

Greek Stocks

Greece’s ASE Index rose 2.8 percent after losing 15 percent in the previous three days. ECB Supervisory Board Chair Daniele Nouy said in an interview with Bloomberg Television that while banks face a difficult situation they are “pretty strong” after having their balance sheets bolstered.

Deutsche Bank AG climbed 2.7 percent after swinging to a profit as the investment bank posted fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates. Raiffeisen Bank International AG rallied 11 percent after eastern Europe’s second-biggest lender said it will shrink by at least 20 percent to boost capital ratios and avoid a cash call that could dilute the cooperative banks that own it.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc slipped 3.4 percent after reporting that fourth-quarter profit rose less than analysts had predicted. Vallourec SA declined 5.2 percent after saying it will write down the value of assets by as much as 1.2 billion euros ($1.35 billion).

Nokia Oyj lost 4.6 percent after posting net income that fell short of projections.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index headed for the steepest drop in three weeks, declining 1.2 percent. The slide pared this month’s gain to 1.7 percent.

Lira Slides

The lira dropped as much as 1.3 percent to 2.4155 versus the dollar after Turkey’s central bank said it may hold an emergency meeting next week to lower interest rates.

Russia’s the ruble weakened 1.6 percent, leaving it 12 percent lower this year following a 46 percent depreciation in 2014 as sanctions over Ukraine and declining oil prices leave the economy on the brink of recession. The dollar-denominated RTS dropped 1.2 percent and is down 4.4 percent in 2015.

Credit-default swaps on Russia’s government debt rose nine basis points to 619, the highest since March 2009, CMA prices show.

The U.S. said it’s ready to intensify pressure against Russia for supporting rebels who’ve stepped up attacks on Ukrainian troops as European Union foreign ministers prepared to meet in Brussels over new penalties in the face of opposition from Greece.

China Lending

The Shanghai Composite Index declined 1.3 percent amid speculation increased regulatory scrutiny of margin loans will spur some leveraged investors to reduce holdings. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong dropped 1.9 percent.

China’s securities regulator will start a new round of checks into the margin-lending businesses of brokerages, looking for any irregularities in the funding that has helped to drive a stock market boom.

The assessments will be of a remaining 46 firms, after an initial 45 were checked, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday night. The China Securities Regulatory Commission said the checks were routine and shouldn’t be over- interpreted, Xinhua reported.

The increase in Greek three-year note yields took the rate above the level it reached before European leaders set up a financial backstop for the euro area in May 2010. It peaked above 100 percent before Greece’s debt underwent the biggest ever restructuring in 2012.

Ten-year yields jumped 46 basis points to 10.80 percent, the highest since September 2013.

Italian bonds fell for a third day, dragged lower by the selloff in Greece. The 10-year yield climbed four basis points to 1.63 percent. The rate on similar-maturity Spanish debt also increased four basis points, to 1.48 percent.

The Aussie fell 1 percent to 78.10 U.S. cents, after dropping to 78.07, the lowest since 2009. Swaps traders see 66 percent odds the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut borrowing costs on Feb. 3, setting aside the report on Wednesday that showed underlying quarterly inflation accelerated.

Kiwi Slides

New Zealand’s dollar slid to the lowest level in almost four years, extending a drop from Wednesday, after the nation’s Reserve Bank hinted it was prepared to lower interest rates. The kiwi weakened 0.3 percent to 72.97 U.S. cents, after touching 72.86, the weakest since March 2011.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, a gauge of the currency’s performance against 10 major peers, rose 0.3 percent to 1,163.23. It closed at 1,161.42 on Jan. 26, the highest in data going back to 2004.

Metals declined as investors weighed the prospect of higher interest rates in the U.S. Gold slipped 0.5 percent to $1,280.50 an ounce, silver lost 2.7 percent and copper slid 1.7 percent.

U.K. natural gas futures climbed 2.2 percent as Norwegian flows were disrupted and below-average temperatures were forecast for western Europe. Corn fell 0.6 percent to an 11-week low on ample supplies and lower demand.

The Bloomberg Commodities Index extended its slump, falling as much as 0.4 percent to the lowest level since August 2012.

The cost of insuring European corporate debt rose for a third day, with the Markit iTraxx Europe Index of credit-default swaps on investment-grade companies climbing two basis points to 58 basis points, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.