• Swedish stocks expected to swell 2011
• Sales of new cars boom in Sweden
• Swedish export surge 'impressive' in November
• Facebook valued at $50 bln by Goldman Sachs

Stocks in Stockholm rose in the new year’s first trading hours. European stocks rose and copper climbed to a record on optimism an economic recovery will be sustained in the United States, helping drive global growth as expansion moderates in China.

At 11am the OMX Stockholm 30 index was up 1.60 percent while the OMX Nordic 40 index rose 1.85 percent. Also the Paris and Frankfurt stock markets climbed higher at the open of trading.

Industrial companies sensitive to market fluctuations, such as steelmaker SSAB, miner Boliden and construction toolmaker Husqvarna, took the lead.

Last year the Swedish benchmark index rose more than 23 percent as as corporate earnings surged and the country’s economy rebounded surprisingly quickly from the recession. And the rally is far from over, according to a number of new reports.

U.S. data this week will likely show employment increased for a third month and growth accelerated in the nation’s factories and services, Bloomberg said

Growth will “definitely normalize in 2011 in emerging markets,” Arjuna Mahendran, the Singapore-based head of investment strategy for Asia at HSBC Private Bank, told the newswire. “On the other hand, we could see the U.S. economy in particular acting as a laggard in terms of surprising us on the upside.”

Swedish investment group Industrivärlden, with large holdings in Ericsson, Volvo and Handelsbanken, said Monday its net asset value on December 31 was 149 kronor per share, an increase of 37 percent since the start of the year including reinvestment of the dividend in 2010.

The CEO of Autoliv, the world's biggest airbag and seat belt maker, told business daily Dagens Industri the company was ready to make larger acquisitions to boost its position in fast-growing market segments. He pointed to business units at Bosch, Continental and Japanese Denso as interesting potential acquisitions.

The Paris CAC 40 won rose 0.87 percent and in Frankfurt the DAX 30 climbed 0.86 percent. There was no trading in London due to a holiday.