Global stocks rose to a four-week high and industrial metals rallied Monday amid growing optimism about the prospects for economic growth. European bonds rebounded from three days of losses.

The MSCI World Index of shares in 24 developed markets climbed 0.4 percent at 5 p.m. in New York City, where exchanges were closed for the Labor Day holiday. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures advanced 0.1 percent in Chicago. Brazil's Bovespa index advanced. German bunds and British gilts rose, while copper and nickel gained and oil fell.

"People have to recognize we're not facing economic Armageddon," Mark Tinker, global equity-portfolio manager in London for Axa Framlington, which oversees $30 billion, said on Bloomberg Television's "Start Up" with Maryam Nemazee.

Factory production in Britain grew at a record pace in the third quarter, the Engineering Employers Federation said Monday.

The Group of 20 nations are confident that there's a "moderate recovery under way globally," John Lipsky, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said Monday. The S&P 500 Index rose 3.75 percent last week as a series of economic reports eased concern the U.S. is sliding back into a recession.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.2 percent as almost two shares gained for every one that declined. E.ON AG and RWE AG, Germany's biggest utilities, climbed 1.8 percent as Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to extend the life of the nation's nuclear power plants.

GN Store Nord A/S rallied 8 percent in Copenhagen after a tribunal awarded the world's biggest maker of mobile headsets about $380 million.

German 10-year bonds advanced for the first day in four as yields close to the highest level in three weeks attracted investors to government debt. The yield on the 10-year bund fell 2 basis points to 2.34 percent after reaching 2.37 percent last week, the most since Aug. 19. Britian's 10-year gilt yields declined 2 basis points, to 2.98 percent.

Technology stocks paced gains in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which climbed 1.6 percent to 121.86. Samsung Electronics Co., Asia's biggest maker of chips, flat screens and mobile phones, gained 2.5 percent after saying it may invest $26 billion in 2011.

Futures on the S&P 500 expiring this month rose 0.1 percent in Chicago. Private U.S. payrolls that exclude government jobs increased 67,000 in August, after a revised 107,000 jump in July, the Labor Department said Friday.

Washington correspondent Daniel Malloy writes the "Pittsburgh On The Potomac" blog exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.