Emerging-market stocks rose the most in a month after U.S. retail sales beat estimates and as a report showed German investor sentiment is improving, boosting prospects for exports.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rallied 0.9 percent to 1,003.87 at 11:16 a.m. in New York, the biggest gain since Sept. 14 on a closing basis. Samsung Electronics Co. surged the most in more than a month in Seoul. The Bovespa gained 1.1 percent as Vale SA, the world's biggest iron-ore producer, jumped on speculation infrastructure investments in China will boost the commodity. Turkey's ISE National 100 Index rose to the highest level almost two years, led by Asya Katilim Bankasi AS.

The Commerce Department announced yesterday that retail sales in the U.S. climbed 1.1 percent in September, compared with the 0.8 percent expansion forecast by economists. German investor confidence gained for a second month in October, the ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said today. The 21 nations in MSCI's developing-nations gauge send about 30 percent of their exports to the European Union and 13 percent to the U.S. on average, according to data compiled by the World Trade Organization.