By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch Dutch bank ING Groep NV said it will cut 1,700 jobs

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks rose Tuesday, with German equities extending gains after data confirmed modest quarterly growth for the eurozone's largest economy.

In Frankfurt, Germany's DAX 30 index climbed 1% to 6,880.21, the move pushing the index's year-to-date gain to 6%. Germany's Destatis statistics agency said gross domestic product rose 0.1% in the third quarter. The agency earlier this month issued a preliminary GDP reading of 0.1% growth. The contraction in the second quarter was revised to 0.1% from a previous estimate of 0.2%.

Germany's narrow avoidance of recession in the third quarter was aided by more spending among consumers as investment fell, particularly in machinery and equipment.

ECB executive board member Benoît Coeuré said, in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Monday, the central bank will discuss the possibility of additional stimulus measures at their meeting in December and assess what impact actions such as recently launched purchases of asset-backed securities are having on the broader economy.

On Friday, ECB President Mario Draghi signaled the central bank is set to expand its asset-purchase program, spurring speculation the ECB may start buying government bonds.

The effect of the "dovish" comments are "broadly why the DAX is up strongly," along with France's CAC 40 index, said Richard Perry, market analyst at Hantec Markets, in an interview Tuesday.

Utilities E.ON SE and RWE AG topped the DAX as they roe 3.9% and 3.7%, respectively, and financial-sector heavyweight Deutsche Bank AG rose 3.3%. All but four of the DAX's 30 components were higher in afternoon trade. In Paris, the CAC 40 index rose 0.6% to 4,396.16.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Tuesday warned that the eurozone needs a basket of measures to stave off the threat of deflation, and that weak confidence in the eurozone is among the risks facing the global economy.

The ECB is likely to decide to launch full-blown quantitative easing, but when it will happen remains in question, said Perry.

"The Germans and Austrians are very much against it and keep saying as much," said Perry. "You've got good German data come out recently and that's probably not going to help the drive towards QE. Although on Friday, you've got inflation data and I think it's going to dip back down to 0.3%. The longer inflation stays at this very low level, then the argument for QE just comes evermore," he said. A decision to launch QE would likely not be made until next year, Perry said.

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4% to 347.09.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.2% to 6,743.52, but shares of Kingfisher PLC dropped more than 5% following a decline in profit and sales at the home-improvement retailer.

Among other corporate developments, Spain's Banco Santander SA rose 1.8% after the company named former chief financial officer José Antonio Álvarez its new chief executive. Álvarez replaces group chief executive Javier Marín who served less than two years in that role.

Dutch bank ING Groep NV (ING) said it plans to cut 1,700 jobs over the next three years as it moves to ramp up its digital-banking operations.

You're invited: A free evening event focusing on investing opportunities in Europe

Will you be in London on Dec. 3? Then you're invited to our MarketWatch Investing Insights event, "The worse Europe gets, the more you should invest."

Governments are in trouble, reform efforts have stalled, unemployment is climbing. The news from the eurozone is bleak, and investors are fleeing. But that's a mistake: The worse the economic data from Europe get, the more you should be buying. Why? Because actions by the ECB will boost asset prices and the stock market in particular. And, big exporters can grow sales. Lower costs and steady sales translate into higher profits and dividends. Join us for an evening of cocktails and conversation to explore these opportunities.

Our panel will be led by MarketWatch Columnist Matthew Lynn, a renowned financial journalist based in London and the author of "Bust: Greece, the euro and the Sovereign Debt Crisis." He'll be joined by Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch columnist and editor of the Hulbert Financial Digest.

This event is free, but RSVPs are required. It will be held Wednesday evening, Dec. 3, in London. For more information or to RSVP, send an email to marketwatchevent@wsj.com.

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