Emerging-market stocks rose, driving the benchmark index to the highest level in a month, as borrowing costs fell for some European nations.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index (MXEF) gained 0.7 percent to 955.09 at 9:56 a.m. in New York, bound for the highest close since Dec. 7.

Turkish stocks advanced 1.6 percent. The BUX Index (BUX) rose 1.8 percent after Hungary sold more bonds than planned at an auction today as financing costs fell.

Brazil’s Bovespa Index slipped 0.2 percent while South Korea’s Kospi Index (KOSPI) rose 1 percent.

Government financing concerns eased as Spain sold twice its maximum target of 5 billion euros ($6.4 billion) in an auction of bonds maturing in 2015 and 2016, while borrowing costs plunged in an Italian debt sale.

More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week and retail sales rose less than expected.

“After a positive reaction to the auction results, the U.S. numbers have spoiled the party a little bit,” Daniel Lenz, the chief emerging-markets strategist at DZ Bank AG, said in an interview from Frankfurt.

“The auctions for Italian and Spanish bonds were far better than expected. The auction yields were much lower.”

The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate at 1 percent today, in line with the median forecast of 53 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

ECB President Mario Draghi said “there are tentative signs of stabilization of economic activity” while “the economic outlook remains subject to high uncertainty and substantial downside risks.

Global stocks advanced yesterday as the U.S. central bank said the country’s economic expansion improved last month.

Emerging-market stocks remain cheaper than those in developed nations, trading for 9.7 times projected earnings. Developed- country shares trade for 11.7 times forecast profits.

Hungary Auction

The forint strengthened 0.9 percent against the euro and Foldhitel es Jelzalogbank Nyrt., a mortgage lender, jumped 3.8 percent, the most since Dec. 2, in Budapest, as Hungary sold 44 billion forint ($181 million) of bonds, 11 billion forint more than planned, in an auction.

The WIG20 Index (WIG20) gained 1.8 percent in Warsaw.

Brazilian stocks retreated for the first day in five. Vale SA (VALE5), the world’s largest iron-ore producer, slid 1.3 percent after saying it will lose 2 million metric tons of production, or 0.6 percent of last year’s output target, because of heavy rains.

The real appreciated 0.9 percent against the dollar and the ruble advanced 0.7 percent.

Solar Stocks

The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) fell less than 0.1 percent after the government in Beijing said Chinese consumer prices rose 4.1 percent in December from a year earlier last month, slowing from a 4.2 percent rate of increase in November.

GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Co. (3800), China’s biggest polysilicon manufacturer, jumped 14 percent in Hong Kong and OCI Co. (010060), South Korea’s biggest maker of the material, surged 15 percent.

The price for polysilicon, the raw material used to make most solar panels, rose 3 percent last week, the most in eight months, Bloomberg New Energy Finance data showed.

Infosys (INFO) sank 8.4 percent in Mumbai, its biggest loss since April, after the company cut its sales estimate for the year ending March 31 to a range of $7.029 billion to $7.033 billion.

The company forecast in October its sales would range from $7.08 billion to $7.2 billion.
Spain, Italy

Spain auctioned 9.98 billion euros ($12.7 billion) of bonds maturing in 2015 and 2016, including a new three-year benchmark security, twice the maximum target of 5 billion euros set for the sale.

The yield on the three-year notes was 3.384 percent, compared with 5.187 percent when the nation sold similar notes in December.

Italy sold 12 billion euros of Treasury bills, meeting its target, and its borrowing costs plunged.

The Rome-based Treasury sold 8.5 billion euros one-year bills at a rate of 2.735 percent, down from 5.952 percent at the last auction.

The extra yield investors demand to own emerging-market debt over U.S. Treasuries fell five basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, to 431, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s EMBI Global Index.