European shares were called higher Monday morning on hopes that a reported aid package may be available for Italy from the International Monetary Fund and that Europe is stepping up attempts to activate its bail out facility.
Close-up of a pen on stock price chart
The FTSE 100 is called 44 points higher, the DAX is seen higher by 79 points and the CAC 40 higher by 37 points.
The report by Italian newspaper La Stampa that the IMF was preparing an aid package worth up to 600 billion euros ($798 billion) for Italy has been deemed by international finance officials as not credible, according to Dow Jones newswire.
An IMF spokesperson said Monday morning that there were no discussions with Italy on a financing program.
Over the weekend France and Germany discussed the possibility of securing deeper and more radical fiscal integration among euro zone countries to avoid the more protracted route of broader treaty changes as this looks increasingly unlikely to happen.
EU officials are meeting on December 9th but the plans for a 'Euro Stability Union' could be announced before that date according to German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Germany's ARD television.
In Egypt the first parliamentary elections take place since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak earlier this year amid tension and violence between the current military rulers and the general population.
In other European news France releases its monthly unemployment figures with officials citing the figures as 'not good'.
Belgium faces its first test at the bond auctions later Monday as it plans to sell medium and long term maturities since last week's news that ratings agency Standard & Poor's had downgraded the country to AA from AA+.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris will present its latest forecasts and analysis for the world economy later this morning.
EU officials meet with their US counterparts in Washington to discuss a number of issues; in attendance will be President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso.