European stocks, euro push higher on US stimulus hopes

European main stock markets opened the week higher and the euro advanced against the dollar on Monday as traders took their lead from the outlook for US stimulus. London witnessed some huge gains and losses for individual shares, with Aberdeen Asset Management soaring and energy group Petrofac slumping. London's FTSE 100 benchmark index rose 0.37 percent to 6,718.47 points around midday in the British capital. Frankfurt's DAX 30 climbed 0.56 percent to 9,219.59 points and in Paris the CAC 40 grew 0.48 percent to 4,312.94 compared with Friday's closing levels. "The global markets remain very much risk-on after Janet Yellen signalled she wants to play it safe by continuing with the current loose monetary policy," said Capital Spreads dealer Jonathan Sudaria. Yellen told senators reviewing her nomination as Federal Reserve chief that US growth was still too fragile and unemployment too high to begin cutting the bond-buying scheme, which has provided much-needed support to the economy. In foreign exchange, the European single currency rose to $1.3510 from $1.3493 late in New York on Friday. The euro climbed also to 83.79 pence against the British pound, which was higher at $1.6122. The dollar fell to 99.97 yen from 100.12 yen on Friday. On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold slid to $1,285.33 an ounce from $1,287.25 on Friday. "Fed chair-elect Janet Yellen?s dovish tone at last week's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee is still weighing modestly upon the US dollar in the near-term," said Lee Hardman, currency analyst at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi. Yellen has given no hint of when she would wind down the $85 billion-a-month scheme, saying -- like current chairman Ben Bernanke -- everything was data-driven and that current data suggested the economy still required Fed support. Her comments have meanwhile come as some relief to emerging economies, which have been in turmoil in recent months owing to uncertainty about the future of the stimulus, which has been credited with a global investment splurge. Aberdeen Asset Management stock soars Shares in Aberdeen Asset Management rocketed 14.78 percent to 489.9 pence after the British firm said it had agreed to buy an asset management business belonging to state-rescued Lloyds Banking Group. The deal is for Lloyds' Scottish Widows Investment Partnership Group for up to £660 million ($1.06 billion or 789 million euros). On the downside, shares in energy services provider Petrofac slumped 17.10 percent to 1,192.92 pence after the group said that it expected new income in 2014 to see "flat to modest growth year-on-year". In Paris, shares in European aerospace group EADS, which controls Airbus, rose by 2.98 percent to 53.50 euros on strong orders at the Dubai air show. Shares in television channel TF1 fell by 2.80 percent because the French football team lost a key match at the weekend and is at risk of not qualifying for the 2014 World Cup competition for which the channel has bought broadcasting rights Asian stock markets mostly rose on Monday, adding to last week's gains, with Hong Kong and Shanghai boosted by China's reforms aimed at giving private firms a greater role in the economy, traders said. Traders were given another strong lead from Wall Street, where the Dow and S&P 500 closed at record highs for the third straight session on Friday. Traders were cheered after China on Friday released a blueprint for restructuring the world's number two economy that pledged to open up the financial sector and relax restrictions on investment. It also said leaders planned to improve the country's initial public offering system to adopt a more market-oriented approach.