Gasoline fluctuated as Japan’s sovereign-credit rating was lowered and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Europe’s debt crisis risks damaging the global economy.

Futures swung between gains and losses as Fitch Ratings cited limited progress by Japan in addressing its public debt for the one-step downgrade to A+ with a negative outlook. The OECD, which advises its 34-member nations on economic policy, left the group’s 2012 forecast unchanged while reducing its outlook for the euro area.

“The downgrade for Japan was bearish,” said Phil Flynn, vice president of research at PFGBest in Chicago. “June crude is also going off the board today and contributing to volatility.”

Gasoline for June delivery rose 0.42 cent to $2.9443 a gallon at 9:49 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after touching $2.9589.

A worsening of Europe’s sovereign debt crisis “may materialize and spill over outside the euro area with very serious consequences for the global economy,” OECD Chief Economist Pier Carlo Padoan wrote in the organization’s semi- annual report on the global economy.

The remarks come as European Union leaders are preparing to gather in Brussels tomorrow to discuss how to revive growth and address a political impasse in Greece, where voters rejected austerity measures in elections on May 6.

China Growth

Futures rose earlier as a leading economic index for China rose at the same pace in April as the prior month, increasing optimism that the world’s second-biggest economy may avoid a deeper slowdown. The gauge climbed 0.8 percent from March to 232.4, the New York-based Conference Board said.

The report comes a day after China’s Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to focus more on bolstering growth, easing concern the world’s second-largest economy is slowing.

“The China news is supporting,” Flynn said.

In Europe, U.K. inflation slowed more than forecast in April, with consumer prices rising 3 percent from a year earlier, down from 3.5 percent in March, the Office for National Statistics said. European leaders will do “everything necessary” to keep Greece in the 17-nation euro currency system and focus on steps to aid economic expansion, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said yesterday.

Regular gasoline at the pump, averaged nationwide, fell 0.9 cent to $3.68 a gallon yesterday, according to AAA. It was the lowest level since Feb. 24. Gasoline is down 6.5 percent since reaching a 2012 high of $3.936 on April 4.

June-delivery heating oil increased 0.59 cent to $2.8662 a gallon on the exchange.