(MENAFN- AFP) European stock markets rose Monday as traders reacted positively to inflation data out of China and Italian banking shares raced higher.
Investors cheered a report that officials from Italy's treasury and central bank would meet top banking executives to discuss the creation of a fund to buy bank shares and help firms tackle non-performing loans, according to analysts at Charles Schwab.
The report sent Italian bank shares soaring, after weeks of see-sawing trade on the prospect of merging smaller banks and resolving their bad debts.
Shares in Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena rocketed 11.9 percent higher and Banca Populare jumped 11.5 percent.
Even larger banks like Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit climbed higher, gaining 4.6 percent and 7.6 percent, as the reported plans would ease their burden in guaranteeing the operations on buying shares in smaller banks.
The wider Italian market, the FTSE-Mib, climbed 1.8 percent higher overall.
In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 jumped 1.1 percent and the Paris CAC 40 won 0.6 percent.
London's FTSE edged up 0.04 percent.
Meanwhile, Wall Street stocks opened higher ahead of a heavy week for earnings reports highlighted by results from JPMorgan Chase and other large banks, with the Dow adding 0.4 percent.
- China lifts Asian gloom -
Japan's Nikkei earlier led most Asian stock markets lower Monday as the yen resumed its march against the dollar and investors nervous about the stuttering global economy tentatively await the start of corporate earnings season.
However, Shanghai surged after data showed Chinese inflation held above two percent for a second-straight month in March, indicating some stability in the economic powerhouse.
The broad regional losses follow last week's sell-off as traders become increasingly fearful central banks are running out of ideas to ramp up global growth, with the International Monetary Fund expected to lower its forecasts this week.
In Tokyo the benchmark Nikkei ended 0.4-percent lower as exporters took another hit from the yen's strength. The unit, which is considered a safe bet in times of uncertainty, has climbed about five percent against the greenback this month alone.
But Shanghai closed up 1.6 percent -- and helping Hong Kong to a 0.4-percent rise -- as dealers welcomed the inflation figures.
The consumer price index came in at the same as February's 2.3 percent, the latest indication that the world's number-two economy may be stabilising, following a surprise jump in a gauge of factory activity at the start of the month.
The figures will also ease pressure on the government and central bank to add more economy-boosting stimulus after several rounds of easing measures including six interest rate cuts in the year to November.
"Given the upcoming stabilisation of real economic activity, ongoing rebound in property sales and prices, and the recent jump in headline CPI, we think policy easing momentum has likely peaked in the near term," UBS Group AG economists wrote in a report ahead of the release.
- Key figures around 1330 GMT -
London - FTSE 100 UP 0.04 percent at 6,206.64 points
Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 1.1 percent at 9,726.91
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.6 percent at 4,328.77
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.9 percent at 2,937.11
New York - Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 17,653.90
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.4 percent at 2,055.59
New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.4 percent at 4,869.22
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 15,751.13 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.6 percent at 3,033.96 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.4 percent at 20,440.81 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1409 from $1.1398 on Friday
Dollar/yen: UP at 108.27 yen from 108.10 yen
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