European shares follow Asia higher on China growth relief

Oil prices fall further at the prospect of weaker demand in China

Shares in Europe and Asia rose on Tuesday and the dollar strengthened after China said its economy had not slowed as much as many in markets had feared.

However, the International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for global growth in 2015 by three-tenths of a percent to 3.5% and called on governments and central banks to pursue accommodative monetary policies and reforms.

Oil prices fell further, hit by the prospects of weaker demand in China, the world's second largest economy. But lower oil and rising hopes for more stimulus from the European Central Bank later this week helped lift stocks around the world.

China grew 7.4% in 2014, just missing official forecasts of 7.5%, and its slowest growth in 24 years. But fourth-quarter expansion held steady at 7.3%, down on the previous three months but marginally better than expected.

"Growth in the last quarter of 2014 shows some nice resilience, 7.3% vs expectations of 7.2%, which shows that our scenario of a soft landing is quite close to reality," said John Plassard, senior equity sales trader at Mirabaud Securities in Geneva.

A slew of Chinese data, which also showed factory output and retail sales beating forecasts in December, lifted Asian shares.

The Shanghai Composite index rose 1.85% and the CSI300 closed up 1.22%. Japan's Nikkei 225 index saw its biggest one-day gain in a month, ending up 2.1%. MSCI's main index for Asian shares, excluding Japan was up 0.3%.

European shares opened higher, also boosted by expectations the ECB will launch as soon as Thursday a programme of money-printing through purchases of government bonds in a bid to fight off deflation and kick-start growth.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.6% at a fresh seven-year high.

The dollar rose against the safe-haven yen and was last up 0.6% at 118.19 yen, and the euro was down a fifth of a percent at $1.1580. In anticipation of looser ECB policy, the euro hit an 11-year low of $1.1459 on Friday.

Ahead of the ECB meeting, yields on euro zone government bonds have touched a series of record lows. Most yields held near those lows on Tuesday, with the market awaiting a sale of 10-year Spanish debt via syndication.

"Investors are being pushed further out on the core but also peripheral yield curves as they seek a return in a world where returns are difficult to come by," said Richard McGuire, head of rates strategy at Rabobank.

In emerging markets, shares measured by MSCI rose 0.3%. The focus was on a central bank policy meeting in Turkey, which was expected to deliver a cut in interest rates amid slowing inflation.

Brent crude oil slipped again and was last down 0.6% at $48.53 a barrel. The benchmark price has lost some 60% since June.

Concerns about global economic growth kept gold near a four-month high. Spot gold was last at $1,279.10 an ounce, close to Friday's peak of $1,281.50, which was its highest since September.