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By Bloomberg

The euro strengthened as declines in German bonds sent yields to a seven-week high. Stocks fell on worse- than-estimated earnings, while oil headed for its biggest monthly gain since 2009 after U.S. output slowed and stockpiles dropped.

Europe’s shared currency jumped 0.8 percent to $1.1215 at 8:18 a.m. in New York, after reaching $1.1249, its strongest level since Feb. 26. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is poised for its first monthly decline since June. The yield on 10-year German bunds jumped five basis points to 0.34 percent, while Greece’s bonds advanced. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures both fell 0.2 percent. Oil in New York climbed 0.8 percent. The ruble stayed lower after Russia cut rates for the third time this year.

Bonds slumped on Wednesday, erasing about $61 billion from the value of government securities in the euro area, after signs of inflation in Germany choked off demand at a debt auction. Euro-area consumer prices ended a four-month streak of declines, data showed on Thursday before reports on U.S. consumer spending and jobless claims. The Federal Reserve repeated yesterday its view that U.S. growth will rebound to a “moderate pace,” damping speculation that the central bank may delay its first rate increase since 2006 until next year.

“Just as expectations that U.S. rates will stay lower for longer have been undermining the dollar in recent weeks, higher rates in the euro zone are now having a supportive impact on the euro,” Jane Foley, a senior currency strategist at Rabobank International in London, said in an e-mailed note. “The contrast that appeared to exist at the start of the year between a strongly growing U.S. economy and a euro zone bogged down by a deflationary threat has altered.”

Yields Climb

The euro advanced for a sixth consecutive day, the longest winning streak since 2013. It gained versus all of its 16 major peers, with a 0.6 percent advance against the yen.

New Zealand’s dollar slumped after the central bank said it would cut interest rates if inflation pressures declined and called the currency’s strength while key export prices drop “unwelcome.” The kiwi fell 0.8 percent to 76.17 U.S. cents.

France’s 10-year bond yield increased four basis points to 0.61 percent, while Italian and Portuguese bonds rebounded.

Greece’s 10-year rate declined 27 basis points to 11.15 percent. With Greece facing a cash crunch in early May, both sides in a meeting of euro-area officials agreed to pursue intensive talks beginning on Thursday with the target of a preliminary deal by May 3, according to three people with knowledge of the talks.

The Stoxx 600 is heading for its first monthly drop of the year, with Germany’s DAX Index slumping 4.3 percent for the second-worst performance among developed markets. Greece’s ASE Index was one of the few gainers among western-European benchmark gauges, advancing 2.7 percent.

Results Disappoint

Nokia Oyj dropped 7.4 percent after posting first-quarter profitability for its networks unit that missed analyst estimates. Vallourec SA, , a producer of steel pipes for the oil and gas industries, lost 15 percent after reporting profit that fell short of projections.

Air France-KLM Group slid 4.7 percent after posting a quarterly loss. Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc retreated 4 percent after posting a larger quarterly loss than analysts estimated as it set aside more money for restructuring and currency-manipulation probes.

Lafarge SA, which is merging with the cement maker, gained 3.3 percent. Fresenius SE & Co. added 5.8 percent after raising its profit outlook for 2015.

S&P 500 E-mini futures expiring in June fell after the index dropped for a second time in three days. It’s heading for a 1.9 percent monthly gain.

About 74 percent of the S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings this season have beaten analysts’ profit projections, while 47 percent topped sales estimates.

Emerging Markets

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index dropped 0.8 percent, trimming this month’s gain to 7.8 percent, the most since January 2012. A gauge of 20 developing nation currencies slipped 0.2 percent, leaving it 3.5 percent higher this month, also the biggest gain since January 2012.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Hong Kong-listed Chinese companies slid 1.2 percent in a third day of losses, paring its best monthly advance since 2011 to 17 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.8 percent, up 19 percent in April, the most this year.

China’s big five banks are at risk of their weakest full- year profit growth since at least 2004 after first-quarter results showed bad loans rising in a struggling economy. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. fell to a one-week low on Thursday after reporting the biggest increase in bad loans since at least 2008.

Russia Rates

The ruble weakened 0.7 percent. It fell as much as 1.8 percent after the Bank of Russia reduced its benchmark interest rate to 12.5 percent, lower than the 13 percent forecast by the median of 40 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Nine analysts predicted a decrease of 150 basis points and five see a cut to 12 percent.

The Bloomberg Commodities Index rose 0.2 percent Thursday to a two-month high. The gauge has climbed 5 percent this month, with U.S. oil up 24 percent.

West Texas Intermediate crude advanced to $59.04 a barrel on Thursday, after jumping 2.7 percent to its highest settlement since Dec. 11 on Wednesday. A government report showed crude inventories at the biggest U.S. oil hub fell for the first time in 21 weeks, stoking optimism that the global supply glut will ease. WTI is on track for its biggest monthly advance since 2009.

Nickel rose 3.1 percent, heading for the largest monthly gain in a year after negotiations failed to halt a strike at the world’s second-largest ferro-nickel mine.

The London Metal Exchange Index advanced 3.9 percent this month through Wednesday, the most since December 2013.