* Euro recovers from 12-year low
* European stocks power higher, German DAX hits new high
* Focus on Fed's pledge to remain "patient"
By Jamie McGeever
LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - German stocks surged to a record high on Monday as investors shrugged off a bounce by the euro and focussed on the expected boost to corporate earnings from the currency's recent slump, which saw it touch a 12-year low earlier in the day.
The DAX powered above 12,000 points for the first time and the main pan-euro zone benchmark indices hit seven-year highs, while U.S. futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street of around 0.5 percent.
Wall Street looks set to rebound from last week's fall -- the third consecutive down week for U.S. stocks -- lifted by Europe's rally.
Any U.S. gains are likely to lag Europe's, an indication that investors fear U.S. corporate earnings will feel the pinch from the dollar's recent strength. Investors are also bracing for the Federal Reserve's policy decision on Wednesday.
"As the steroid injection of ECB QE continues to swell the DAX, as well as the other euro zone indices, investors remain enthralled with the region and seem committed to continuing its upswing," said Spreadex financial analyst Connor Campbell.
The European Central Bank last week started its 1.1 trillion-euro bond-buying "quantitative easing" programme, which has helped drag down bond yields to new lows and with them the euro.
Germany's DAX was up 1.2 percent at 12,042 points, France's CAC 40 up three quarters of a percent at 5,048 points, and Britain's FTSE 100 index also up 0.5 percent at 6,776 points.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares rose 0.75 percent to 1,590 points and the euro zone top 50 stocks index was up 0.9 percent at a seven-year high of 3,687 points.
The euro was up a third of a percent against the dollar at $1.0530. It had fallen to $1.0457 early in the Asian session, its lowest since January 2003.
The euro has lost roughly a quarter of its value against the dollar since mid-2014 and suffered its biggest weekly fall since September 2011 last week, shedding 3.2 percent as the ECB began its QE scheme.
Goldman Sachs now sees the euro at $0.80 by the end of 2017.
German 10-year Bund yields rose 2 basis points to 0.275 percent, having hit a record-low 0.188 percent last week. Longer-dated German yields fell, however, and benchmark Spanish, Italian and Portuguese yields were also headed back towards their recent record lows.
FED IN FOCUS
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed a few ticks higher, while Chinese shares outperformed to reach five-year-highs.