RTRS: European stocks end choppy day up, led by miners
European shares ended a choppy day higher on Monday after Chinese economic data buoyed miners and euro zone banks overcame early weakness to rise on expectations that regional leaders would reach a debt deal at a crucial summit this week.
London-listed base-metals miners including Antofagasta (ANTO.L), Kazakhmys (KAZ.L) and Rio Tinto (RIO.L) led the move higher, all up more than 7 percent, while the STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources index .SXPP rose 5.4 percent.
Buoying the sector, down heavily this year but on course to snap a 7-month losing run, was news the manufacturing sector in China, the world's biggest metals consumer, had expanded slightly in October after three months of contraction.
By the provisional close, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of leading European shares was up 1.1 percent at 989.10 points, after rallying strongly on Friday, although volume was once again light.
Christopher Potts, head of economics and strategy at Cheuvreux, said equities were moving from a tactical to a strategic buy, implying potential for a gain of 10 percent to 15 percent for major indexes over the next three months.
The final condition for a sustained recovery is the bottoming of leading indicators of the global output cycle, which seems to be taking shape, he said.
