European shares rose for a six straight day early on Thursday as investors bet on the size and shape of a sovereign bond-buying programme the European Central Bank is expected to unveil later in the day.
Market expectations are sky-high for the ECB to unveil a large-scale programme of quantitative easing (QE). A euro zone source said on Wednesday that the Executive Board proposed that the bank should buy €50 billion ($58 billion) in bonds per month from March.
“At the moment, we are pretty much flat (on our trading book),’’ Markus Huber, a senior trader at Peregrine & Black, said.
“QE itself is in the market except its size and how long it will last. Anything less than €500 billion (in total) would be definitely a disappointment if it’s just a year, that’s also already in the market.’’
Among single stocks, Remy Cointreau rose nearly 2 per cent after reported third quarter cognac sales well ahead of forecasts, driven by robust demand for premium qualities in the United States.