picture economic news, such as U.S. non-farm payrolls on Friday, and an interest-rate decision from the Federal Reserve, were expected to be a major shaper of stock market sentiment going forward. "With the Iraq polls out of the way, the markets can focus on the big macro issues. Wednesday's FOMC (interest rate) decision and Friday's jobs report are the highlights," said Anais Faraj, a strategist at Nomura. Other gainers included Deutsche Boerse, up 1.7 percent, with one Frankfurt trader saying: "It could be that people are slowly starting to believe that (Boerse CEO Werner) Seifert can organise (this takeover) profitably for Deutsche Boerse and get a recommendation from the management." --More 2327 Local Time 2027 GMT