Europe Factors-Shares seen higher on IMF, Greece hopes

(adds detail, futures, companies; updates snapshot table)

LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - European shares were set to rise on
Thursday, tracking strong gains in the United States and Asia, on hopes Greece
would reach an agreement in its debt negotiations and on news the International
Monetary Fund was seeking to more than double its war chest to help countries in
the euro zone.

Financials were also likely to be in focus, with investors hoping results
from Bank of America Corp and Morgan Stanley would mirror
forecast-beating earnings from Goldman Sachs on Wednesday.

Investors were hopeful a bond swap deal needed to avoid a messy default
would be agreed, when talks in Greece resume on Thursday after Wednesday's
negotiations. If a deal is not reached, a disorderly default could occur which
could tip the global economy into recession and hit company profits.

U.S. stocks jumped to their highest since July and Asian shares rose to a
two-month high after IMF sources said the fund was seeking to raise up to $600
billion which would help ease worries about funding in the euro zone and slowing
company growth.

"Asian equity markets are trading higher after picking up positive leads
from US markets. They have rallied as investors cheered on news that Greece
resumed negotiations with bondholders, plus reports that the IMF is looking to
expand its lending fund in a bid to safeguard economic growth," Stan Shamu
Market, strategist at IG Markets, said.

"Some analysts say a swift deal between Greek and private sector bond
holders appears to be within reach."

The United States and Canada, however, have said Europe must put more of its
own money in to help support ailing members in the sovereign debt crisis first,
which could make it tough for G20 talks in Mexico this week to lay the ground
for a deal on bolstering IMF resources.

The focus will also be on Spain on Thursday, when it tests demand for debt
when it sells up to 4.5 billion euros of longer-term bonds, while France will
also tap the market with a longer-dated debt offer.

It will be the first test of longer-term debt markets since Standard &
Poor's cut their credit ratings last week and poor demand could see borrowing
costs rise which would hit growth in the regions.

By 0720 GMT, futures for Euro STOXX 50, Germany's DAX and
France's CAC were up 0.4 to 0.8 percent.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed up
0.02 percent at 1,034.64 points above the technical resistance level of 1,028 --
its October 2011 high from the rally that started in September 2011 -- for the
second day as the Greece debt talks resumed.

The next level is seen around 1,062 points -- its 61.8 percent Fibonacci
Retracement from its February to September sell-off last year.
S&P 500 1,308.04 1.11 % 14.37
NIKKEI 8,639.68 1.04 % 89.1
MSCI ASIA EX-JP 1.15 % 5.59
EUR/USD 1.2861 0.03 % 0.0004
USD/JPY 76.74 -0.07 % -0.0500
10-YR US TSY YLD 1.888 -- -0.01
10-YR BUND YLD 1.807 -- 0.03
SPOT GOLD $1,664.86 0.33 % $5.40
US CRUDE $101.43 0.84 % 0.84

* Wall St gains 1 pct as IMF gives Europe hope, Goldman soars

* Asian shares hit 2-month highs as mood improves

* Gold, copper end up on possible IMF help

* Euro enjoys short squeeze; Aussie eyes jobs data

* Brent rises above $111 on stocks draw, demand recovery

COMPANIES

COMMERZBANK

Commerzbank aims to plug a 5.3 billion euro ($6.8 billion) regulatory
capital shortfall on its own, without turning to insurer Allianz for
help, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports.

Separately, the European Commission is likely to approve a Commerzbank plan
to integrate a small part of its Eurohypo real estate unit and wind down the
rest, Handelsblatt newspaper cites several persons familiar with the talks as
saying, adding that a final decision could be taken as early as next month.

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND

David Cameron's pledge to curb executive pay and stop "rewards for failure"
is set to face its biggest test, as RBS prepares to offer a bonus of more than 1
million pound to its chief executive, even though the state-controlled bank's
share price has almost halved in a year, the Financial Times said.

BANCA MONTE DEI PASCHI DI SIENA

The bank may need to take state funding, either directly or indirectly
through Italy's state agency Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, to meet capital
requirements set by the European Banking Authority, Financial Times reported on
Thursday citing three sources familiar with the matter. The bank declined to
comment, FT said.

GLENCORE

The world's largest commodities trader will lose Steven Blumgart, one of its
most senior executives, in the first significant departure since the company
went public last year, the Financial Times said.

RIO TINTO

The global miner is clear to take over Mongolia's coveted Oyu Tolgoi
project, which promises to be one of the world's largest copper-gold mines,
after project owner Ivanhoe Mines decided to scrap a controversial
"poison pill".

BHP BILLITON

BHP Billiton said its plan to link more of its coal mines in eastern
Australia with coastal export terminals was on track, helping boost its capacity
of coal for steelmakers.

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE

The LSE plans to shift the trading system used for trading Italian stocks
back to Milan after complaints from Italian banks and brokers that their trades
had been slowed down by taking place in the UK capital, the Financial Times
said.

BAYER

Former Bayer AG chief executive Werner Wenning may return to Germany's
largest drugmaker later this year as a member of its supervisory board, which
could be a prelude to becoming chairman, a person close to the company said on
Wednesday.

DEUTSCHE BOERSE, NYSE EURONEXT

Britain urged European Union competition officials on Wednesday to reject
"political interference" and "vested interests" when ruling on plans to create
the world's biggest exchange operator.

MUNICH RE

Munich Re's primary insurance unit Ergo plans to build up business with
industrial clients in Europe and is setting up units to do that in the
Netherlands and Austria, with plans for France to follow in future, an Ergo
executive tells the Financial Times Deutschland.

CARREFOUR

Europe's No.1 retailer said the decline in 2011 profit would be at the more
pessimistic end of its predicted range as a worsening economic climate in Europe
and in its core French business hit quarterly sales, raising doubts over its
turnaround.

AHOLD

Dutch grocer posted a smaller-than-expected rise in fourth-quarter sales as
worsening trade in its central European businesses offset market shares gains in
the Netherlands and the United States.

SONY ERICSSON

The world's ninth-biggest mobile handset maker reports its final quarter's
result as a joint venture before passing under full control of Sony.

Analysts expected the company, now wholly focused on the growing smartphone
segment to have shifted 10.5 million phones in the fourth quarter and to make a
pretax profit of 41.7 million euros ($53.5 million).

(Reporting by Joanne Frearson, editing by Atul Prakash)

(Editing by Helen Massy-Beresford)