European stocks rise at open; London up 0.36pc

LONDON: Europe's main stock markets advanced in opening trade on Wednesday, with London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares up 0.36 percent at 5,287.39 points.

Elsewhere, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index gained 0.75 percent to 5,686.26 points and in Paris the CAC 40 added 0.62 percent to 3,179.21 points.

Asian markets were mixed on Wednesday following a two-day rally as weak consumer confidence data from the United States and Europe outweighed renewed hopes for a fresh round of US monetary easing.

Wall Street eked out a third day of gains after minutes from the Federal Reserve policy-setting board's last meeting suggested new stimulus measures were likely as they showed members discussing the best way forward.

The Dow climbed 0.18 percent, the S&P 500 edged 0.23 percent higher and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.55 percent on Tuesday.

Expectations of some sort of stimulus have been building since last week when Fed chief Ben Bernanke said Friday the central bank would not immediately begin monetary easing but would keep the door open for such a move when needed.

Markets have been rallying since the weekend but consumer data from the US and Europe on Tuesday brought dealers back down to Earth.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011