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European stocks rally as ECB says committed to full QE plan

Reuters - UK Focus

* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.7 pct, hits fresh 2000 high

* Alcatel (Paris: FR0000130007 - news) shares fall back as Nokia (Swiss: NOK1V.SW - news) unveils bid details

By Blaise Robinson

PARIS, April 15 (Reuters) - European stocks rallied on Wednesday, with one regional benchmark hitting a level not seen since late 2000, after the European Central Bank said it remained committed to its full asset-buying programme to revive the euro zone economy.

Last month, the ECB embarked on a money-printing programme, which it has said will last until at least September 2016. The plan has helped fuel a sharp rally in European stocks while pushing the euro currency lower, a boon for European exporters.

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"Our focus will be on the full implementation of our monetary policy measures," ECB President Mario Draghi said.

By 1418 GMT, The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.7 percent at 1,650.95 points, after rising as high as 1,653.85 points, a level not seen for almost 15 years.

The index has surged 21 percent so far this year, strongly outpacing Wall Street, as investors bet the ECB programme will support the region's economic recovery and that corporate profits will rise.

"The effect from the ECB's quantitative easing is massive. With the drop in the euro and the drop in financing costs, there's a major upside potential for corporate margins in the euro zone," AXA Investment Managers' global head of multi asset investments, Serge Pizem, said.

Around Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index was up 0.4 percent on Wednesday, Germany's DAX index up 0.5 percent, and France's CAC 40 up 0.9 percent.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in France's Alcatel-Lucent dropped 13 percent, slipping after a sharp rally on Tuesday as rival Nokia gave details of its all-share takeover offer for Alcatel, which values it at 15.6 billion euros.

Shares in resource-related companies rallied, bouncing back from a recent drop, after Chinese figures came out in-line with expectations.

Among other standouts, Antofagasta (Other OTC: ANFGF - news) rose 0.7 percent and Glencore (Xetra: A1JAGV - news) up 1.3 percent.

Europe bourses in 2015: http://link.reuters.com/pap87v

Asset performance in 2015: http://link.reuters.com/gap87v

Today's European research round-up

(Editing by Louise Ireland)