World stocks firm as traders look to central banks

World stock markets started the week on a benign note Monday with leading bourses either flat or rising ahead of major central bank meetings.

Asian markets notched strong gains as the Bank of Japan opened a two-day monetary policy meeting and Chinese stocks reacted positively to remarks from a top Chinese securities regulator that promised new intervention if Chinese stocks fall.

Shanghai finished up 1.8 percent.

The Bank of England, meanwhile, was expected to leave its main lending rate at 0.50 percent at its Thursday meeting. The London FTSE 100 rose 0.6 percent.

Stocks in Paris and Frankfurt gained for a second straight session as the market continued to applaud a series of stimulus measures unveiled Thursday by the European Central Bank.

On Monday, the DAX went above 10,000 for the first time since January 13, hitting an intra-day high of 10,039.61. It closed 1.6 percent higher.

Paris rose 0.3 percent.

US stocks avoided big moves a day before the start of a two-day Federal Reserve meeting that is not expected to produce an interest rate hike, but could signal the outlook for higher rates.

The Dow rose 0.1 percent, while the S&P 500 shed 0.1 percent, a solid performance considering that oil prices retreated, analysts said.

"The sentiment has moved back to neutral now" compared with January and early February, said Charlie Bilello, research director at Pension Partners.

"The question is: Can the rally keep going to new highs?"

The dollar gained against the euro.

"We can see that investors are buying dollars ahead of the Federal Reserve?s monetary policy announcement," said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management.

"While no one expects the Fed to raise interest rates, there is a very good chance that Janet Yellen will say that a 2016 rate hike remains on the table."

Hotel stocks were strong on news that a consortium led by China's Anbang Insurance Group made an unsolicited $12.8 billion bid for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, challenging an existing merger between Starwood and Marriott International.

Starwood rose 7.8 percent, while Marriott rose 3.0 percent. London-listed Intercontinental Hotels rose 4.6 percent and Paris-listed Accor gained 3.1 percent.

- Key figures around 2200 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 17,229.13 (close)

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.1 percent at 2,019.64 (close)

New York - Nasdaq: UP less than 0.1 percent at 4,750.28 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 6,174.57 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 1.6 percent at 9,990.26 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 4,506.59 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.6 percent at 3,091.98 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.7 percent at 17,233.75 (close)

Shanghai - composite: UP 1.8 percent at 2,859.50 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 1.2 percent at 20,435.35 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1103 from $1.1149 on Friday

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 113.78 yen from 113.79 yen