NEWS

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, returned 192 billion kroner ($31 billion) in the second quarter as energy stocks and emerging markets led a rally amid turmoil in Iraq and Ukraine.

The Government Pension Fund Global gained 3.3 percent in the quarter, the Oslo-based investor said today. The $880 billion fund’s stock holdings returned 4 percent and its bonds 2 percent. Real estate returned 3 percent.

“Equity markets rose in the second quarter and emerging markets performed best,” Yngve Slyngstad, chief executive officer of Norges Bank Investment Management, which runs the fund, said in a statement. “Considerable liquidity flowed into the market, which pushed asset prices up.”

Energy producers such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc rallied as violence in Iraq and tensions between Russia and Ukraine pushed up oil prices. The MSCI World Index rose 4.2 percent in the quarter, while benchmark government bonds in the U.S. and Europe also climbed.

The fund’s emerging market stocks gained 7.4 percent, led by increases in India, Russia, Turkey and Brazil, while its oil and gas company holdings rallied 11.8 percent. Developed markets rose 3.7 percent and its Chinese stock 3.2 percent.