European stocks add to pre-weekend gains

European stock markets added on Monday to gains made before the weekend, owing to upbeat US jobs data and amid mixed signs of progress in the eurozone debt crisis, traders said.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies rose by 0.58 percent to 5,820.79 points in late afternoon deals.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 0.98 percent to 6,933.25 points and in Paris the CAC 40 climbed 1.25 percent to 3,416.25 points.

Madrid leapt by 4.03 percent and Milan added 1.59 percent.

European markets were resolutely upbeat, "with a healthy session in Asia overnight adding support," said Ishaq Siddiqi, market strategist at ETX Capital trading group.

He nonetheless added that "volatility is expected to remain pretty high given a lack of volumes as the summer season is in full swing."

On Wall Street, US stocks posted modest gains as trading got underway, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up by 0.35 percent at 13,141.58 points.

The tech-rich Nasdaq rose by 0.39 percent to 2,979.39, while the S&P 500, a broad measure of the markets, climbed 0.34 percent to 1,395.77 points.

"Investors are looking to add to Friday's gains, despite discouraging comments out of Europe. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti warned that the euro could face a breakup unless more urgency is placed on reducing the region's borrowing costs," said Wells Fargo Advisors analysts.

Markets shot higher Friday and in Asia on Monday after the US economy, the world's biggest, added 163,000 jobs in July -- the strongest gain since February and beating forecasts for a rise of 100,000.

The figures were welcomed by investors who took the report as a sign of resilience in the US economy.

In Europe, markets had firmed Friday amid expectations that the European Central Bank could intervene again on secondary sovereign bond markets and buy debt issued by eurozone countries without unanimous approval.

Those comments raised hopes that a bond buying programme to help struggling countries such as Spain and Italy was still possible, though ECB data released on Monday showed that the controversial programme continued to lie dormant.

The European single currency hit a one-month high at $1.2444 in Asian trading on Monday. It later eased back to $1.2385, up slightly from $1.2381 late Friday in New York.

Asian stock markets rebounded strongly on Monday, with Tokyo closing up 2.0 percent, Hong Kong 1.69 percent and Sydney 1.21 percent.

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