European Stocks Extend Gains For Third Day

(RTTNews) - European stocks hit a seven-year high on Monday, extending gains for a third consecutive session, amid bets that the European Central Bank will launch a government bond-buying program at its next policy meeting Thursday.

The euro rose against the dollar but still remains close to an 11-year low on expectations that the ECB will embark on full-blown quantitative easing.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is moving up 0.3 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is little changed with a positive bias.

Around Europe, the German DAX is rising 0.4 percent, France's CAC 40 is edging up marginally and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 is up 0.1 percent.

Switzerland's benchmark index SMI is climbing 3.5 percent, rebounding from last week's sharp sell-off, after the Swiss National Bank scrapped its three-year-old cap on the Swiss franc against the euro.

Julius Baer shares are up more than 6 percent after the Swiss investment group said it didn't suffer any losses following the SNB's decision abandoning its euro cap on the franc.

Italian bank Banco Popolare is rallying 8.2 percent on the buzz the government plans to abolish rules on cooperative banks.

Telefonica SA shares are gaining 2 percent. Hutchison Whampoa, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, is in early discussions with Telefonica to buy its O2, the Sunday Times reported, citing unnamed sources.

Deutsche Telekom AG is moving up 0.7 percent in Frankfurt. The telecom giant plans to increase spending on networks in its home market of Germany to ward off rivals including Vodafone Group Plc. and Spanish telecom group Telefónica S.A., the Bloomberg reported.

Automaker Daimler is adding 0.4 percent on a report the company may extend the contract of the head of its China division Hubertus Troska.

Energy firm Royal Dutch Shell Plc is declining half a percent in London and Total SA shares are moving down 0.6 percent in Paris, as Brent crude prices dipped back below $50 a barrel after a sharp rally on Friday.

In economic releases, the average asking price for a house in the United Kingdom rose 1.4 percent from the previous month in January after declining in the previous two months, as the recent stamp duty changes made homes cheaper for some first time buyers, figures from property-tracking website Rightmove showed.

The eurozone's current account surplus decreased to EUR 18.1 billion in November from EUR 19.5 billion in the same month last year, figures from the European Central Bank showed.

Elsewhere, the Asian markets followed Wall Street higher, although Chinese and Hong Kong shares bucked the downward trend amid concerns the recent rally was overdone.

China's Shanghai Composite index plunged 7.70 percent to finish at 3,116.35, after the country's securities regulator imposed margin trading curbs on three major brokerages, a sign that authorities are making efforts to keep investor enthusiasm in check after big gains last year.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1.51 percent to finish at 23,738.49 in tandem with the slide in Chinese stocks as investors braced for a slew of Chinese data slated for release tomorrow.

The U.S. markets are closed Monday for Martin Luther King Day.