Strong miners lift European shares near 6-mth high

European shares rose on Monday, with miners up as a weak dollar lifted metals prices, while luxury goods group Hermes (HRMS.PA) surged after peer LVMH (LVMH.PA) bought a minority stake in the French handbag maker. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top shares closed 0.3 percent higher at 1,092.23 points, near a six-month high at 1,096.31 hit on Thursday. Heavyweight miners were among the biggest gainers, with the STOXX Europe 600 basic resources index .SXPP up 2.1 percent as copper prices climbed to a 27-month high on a weak dollar, falling stocks and strong demand from China. Dollar selling persisted after the outcome of a G20 meeting signalled a status quo in currency markets, with the U.S. unit staying under pressure on expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will embark on further quantitative easing at a meeting in November. [ID:nTOE69N00P] Equity markets have been buoyed in recent weeks on hopes the Fed may pump anything between $500 billion to $1.5 trillion into the economy to spur the recovery. [FED/R] "These moves are now pricing in more quantitative easing so the chances are that when we do get that in November the moves may already be in the market," said James Hughes, market analyst at CMC Markets. Analysts at Goldman Sachs said the Fed was almost certain to announce renewed monetary easing at next week's policy meeting, adding it may announce $500 billion in asset purchases or a bit more over a period about six months, and that the size could eventually reach $2 trillion. "Closer to the time we will start getting more conversations about how much it (quantitative easing) is going to be. One trillion dollars is the general consensus at the moment," Hughes said. Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE rose 0.2 percent, Germany's DAX .GDAXI was up 0.5 percent and France's CAC 40 .FCHI closed flat. In a positive sign for equities, the 50-day moving average on the euro zone's blue chip STOXX Europe 50 index .STOXX50E inched closer towards its 200-day moving average. The crossing of the two indicators, known as a golden cross, signals a bullish trend.