Markets shrug off recession forecasts

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Major European markets were trading slightly higher on Monday, joining Asian and Pacific indices in positive territory.

The gains came despite gloomy forecasts from both the European Union and the United States, indicating that economies in both regions are falling into recession.

London, Paris and Frankfurt all showed gains of up to 1 percent while major Asian-Pacific markets finished higher on Monday. Japanese markets were closed.

In Seoul, South Korea's KOSPI index closed up 1.4 percent, while the All Ordinaries index in Australia gained a solid 4.8 percent.

Taipei's Taiwan Weighted finished the day up 2.6 percent and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 2.7 percent in afternoon trading.

In Singapore, the Straits Times index closed up 5 percent, while Mumbai's BSE SENSEX pushed 4.8 percent higher.

Asia's gains followed a strong finish by Wall Street on Friday.

The Dow Industrials, NASDAQ and Standard and Poor's 500 all gained more than a percent. Futures trading points to a positive start for American markets.

London, Paris and Frankfurt were up about 2 percent on Friday.

Wall Street ended one of its worst-ever months, with the S&P closing 16.9 percent, or 198 points, lower than the month before, its eighth-worst percentage decline. The Dow saw a 14.1 percent, or 1526 point, decline through October 31.

The European Commission forecast Monday that the economy in the 15 countries that use the euro will barely grow next year, expanding just 0.1 percent as the financial crisis hits hard. Read more about EU forecast

Meanwhile a survey of top U.S. economists shows that the vast majority of them believe the economy has fallen into a recession that will continue throughout all of 2009. Read about U.S. recession forecast

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