Europe Factors-Shares set to extend rally on bank plan

(Adds company news, futures; snapshot)

PARIS, March 24 (Reuters) - European stocks were set to rise on Tuesday,
extending the previous session's strong rally sparked by the U.S. plan to help
banks get rid of troubled assets as well as better-than-feared housing data.
At 0730 GMT, futures for the DJ Euro Stoxx STXEc1, for Germany's DAX
FDXc1 and for France's CAC FCEc1 were up between 1.4 percent and 1.8
percent, while financial spreadbetters expected Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE to
open up 28 to 36 points, or as much as 0.9 percent.

U.S. stocks jumped around 7 percent on Monday after Washington detailed a
plan to purge toxic assets from bank balance sheets, rekindling hopes of a
revival in bank lending.

The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares rose 3 percent on
Monday, ending at its highest close since Feb. 19, propelled by buoyant banking
shares.

"With a little more time to fully digest the Fed's latest plan to deal with
toxic assets, market opinion is pretty much divided on whether or not it will
work," Ben Potter, research analyst at IG Markets, wrote in a note.

"With all this cash sitting on the sidelines, the real question is at what
point do fund managers start reweighing portfolios toward equities from cash?
Until this cash starts returning to equity markets, it's likely to remain a bear
market rally."

Adding to the positive mood on Tuesday, Switzerland's second-largest bank
Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) said it has had a strong start to 2009 and it would ask
shareholders for the option to raise equity capital for acquisition.

Europe's benchmark index is down 11.1 percent in 2009, but has risen 14.6
percent since falling to a record low on March 9.

----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0725 GMT----------------------

LAST PCT CHG NET CHG

S&P 500 .SPX 822.92 7.08 % 54.38

NIKKEI .N225 8,488.30 3.32 % 272.77

MSCI ASIA EX-JP .MIASJ0000PUS 292.50 2.13 % 6.11

EUR/USD EUR= 1.3622 0.01 % 0.0002

USD/JPY JPY= 98.29 1.26 % 1.2200

10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 2.683 -- 0.03

10-YR BUND YLD EU10YT=RR 3.092 -- 0.07

SPOT GOLD XAU= $937.25 0.01 % $0.10

US CRUDE CLc1 $53.53 -0.50 % -0.29

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

* U.S. details toxic asset plan, home sales climb [ID:nLO59536]

* Wall St soars 7 pct on bank plan debut [ID:nLO89888]

* Asia stocks extend rally; risk-taking revives [ID:nSP457619]

* Nikkei hits 2-1/2-mth closing high on US bank plan [ID:nT253925]

* Oil falls after stocks rally, risk appetite returns [ID:nSP459944]

* TREASURIES-Dip in Asia as global stocks extend rally [ID:nHKG247976]

* Yen hits multi-month lows as stocks extend gains [ID:nT71905]

* Copper retreats after 7-day rally [ID:nMAN430371]

* Gold steadies, ETF dips from record [ID:nT169002]

European stocks to watch on Tuesday are:

CREDIT SUISSE (CSGN.VX)

Switzerland's second-largest bank Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) said it has had a
strong start to 2009 and reiterated it was poised to benefit from a market
upswing when this happened. For related news, click on [ID:nLN484738]

DEUTSCHE BANK (DBKGn.DE)

Deutsche Bank said it expects to return to profitability in 2009 if the
global economy, financial markets, regulatory and competitive environment
develop as foreseen. For related news, click on [ID:nWEA3899]

SWISS LIFE (SLHN.VX), MLP (MLPG.DE)

Swiss Life said Germany's Talanx is buying a 9.9 percent stake in the
company and will take 8.4 percent in German pensions specialist MLP from Swiss
Life holdings, as the insurer announced a 2008 net profit of 345 million Swiss
francs ($306.7 million). For related news, click on [SLHN.VX-RTRS-LEN]

BARCLAYS (BARC.L)

Barclays is in talks with Goldman Sachs (GS.N) about a sale of the British
bank's iShare, a source familiar with the situation said, adding one more name
to a growing list of possible bidders. For details, see:[ID:nLN75208]

UBS (UBSN.VX)

Stifel Financial Corp (SF.N) said it would acquire up to 55 branches of UBS
Wealth Management Americas to expand across the United States in a deal that
will boost the investment bank's profit in the first year. For related news,
click on [UBSN.VX-LEN-RTRS]

ALLIANZ (ALVG.DE)

Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and China's ICBC (1398.HK) have been in discussions
about Goldman reducing its 4.9 percent ICBC stake, worth around $8.5 billion
based on ICBC's market capitalisation, the Wall Street Journal reported. ICBC
signed a deal in 2005 to sell a 10 percent stake to a consortium that included
Goldman, Allianz and American Express Co (AXP.N) for more than $3 billion. The
lock-up period ends at end-April. For details, see:[ID:nN23297847]

ANGLO AMERICAN (AAL.L)

The miner is looking at possible iron ore joint ventures or acquisition
opportunities in Australia, a senior company official said. For details, see:
[ID:nSP423168]

RIO TINTO (RIO.L)

Rio Tinto said its proposed deal with Chinese state-owned Chinalco would not
influence iron ore contract price negotiations for the year ahead. For details,
see:[ID:nSYU006236]

BHP BILLITON (BLT.L)

BHP Billiton has agreed to set prices for coking coal to major Japanese
steelmakers at around $128 a ton for the fiscal year starting in April, down
about 57 percent from this year, the financial daily Nikkei said in its Tuesday
edition. For details, see:[ID:nN23445001]

SANTANDER (SAN.MC), FENOSA UNF.MC, CEPSA CEP.MC

Spanish bank Santander and utility Fenosa are finalising the sale of their
36 percent stake in oil company Cepsa to Abu Dhabi fund IPIC at 33 euros per
share, Expansion reported, without naming sources.

ENDESA (ELE.MC)

Utility Endesa is seeking a forward-start agreement on an existing 1.53
billion euro ($2.1 billion) loan and is also raising a new 1.5 billion euro
loan, banking sources close to the deal said on Monday. For details, see:
[ID:nLN689404]

BBVA (BBVA.MC)

Governments should partly or fully nationalise extremely weak banks
suffering under the weight of toxic loans, Francisco Gonzalez, chairman of
Spain's second largest bank said on Monday. For details, see:[ID:nLN733947]

ALCATEL-LUCENT (ALUA.PA)

Franco-American telecoms gear maker Alcatel-Lucent will supply third
generation (3G) mobile networks to China Unicom (0762.HK) in some 14 provinces,
it said on Monday. For story click on For details, see:[ID:nLN679870]

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson)