CAC 40 Up 3% In Early Trade; Banks Outperform

(RTTNews) - French shares rose sharply on Monday, adding to Friday's strong gains as weak trade data out of China and sluggish Japanese GDP data boosted hopes for extra stimulus.

Asian shares snapped a five-session losing streak, China's yuan hit a 2016 high, the yen weakened against its major rivals in Asian deals and gold prices fell more than 2 percent, underscoring a shift in investors' sentiment towards riskier assets.

The benchmark CAC 40 was up 120 points or 3 percent at 4,115 after rallying 2.5 percent on Friday.

Banks traded higher, with BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale Group climbing 3-5 percent on reports that the European Central Bank is mulling buying re-bundled non-performing loans of Italian banks as part of its asset-purchase program.

Telecoms group Orange climbed 3.3 percent on the buzz concerning its potential merger with Bouygues Telecom.

Energy giant Total advanced 2.5 percent after oil prices gained more than 10 percent on Friday.