By Christopher Whittall and Tommy Stubbington
European stocks bounced back from early losses on Monday,
boosted by a rally on Wall Street.
Indexes in Europe had started the week in downbeat fashion as
some disappointing trade and factory-price data from China over the
weekend hurt shares in commodity-linked companies. But markets
rallied into Monday's close as deal making in the industrial
sectors boosted U.S. stocks, and oil and metals prices rebounded
from recent losses.
The Stoxx Europe 600 closed 0.7% higher.
Investors drew encouragement after negotiations over a third
bailout for Greece appeared to advance over the weekend.
Greece's Athex Composite index closed 2.1% higher, although it
is still down sharply since it reopened last week after a five-week
hiatus.
Greek companies were among the biggest gainers on the Stoxx
Europe 600, with National Bank of Greece SA up 3.0% and the Greek
Organization of Football Prognostics SA up 7.6%.
In the U.S., the S&P 500 index was up 1.0% as European
markets closed, helped by Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s deal to buy
Precision Castparts Corp. for about $32 billion.
Monday's moves in global markets marked a rebound from late last
week as U.S. jobs numbers published on Friday appeared to keep the
U.S. Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates for the first
time in almost a decade.
The U.S. added 215,000 new jobs in July, the Labor Department
said, in line with economists' expectations. The Fed considers
employment and inflation data when it makes decisions on monetary
policy.
"The July employment report gave markets little direction, with
unimpressive but steady payroll growth," strategists at BNP Paribas
SA said in a note on Monday.
In China, the disappointing economic data didn't hold back the
Shanghai Composite Index, which rose 4.9% on expectations that
Beijing would maintain its support for stock markets.
There were more modest gains for Asia's other bourses. In Japan,
the Nikkei 225 closed 0.4% higher. In Australia, the S&P ASX
200 index gained 0.6%, having fallen almost 4% last week.
In currency markets, the euro rose 0.2% against the U.S. dollar
to $1.0991. The dollar gained 0.3% against the Japanese yen.
Brent crude oil rose 2.6% to $49.84 a barrel. Gold was up 1.2%
at $1,107.40 a troy ounce.
Write to Christopher Whittall at christopher.whittall@wsj.com
and Tommy Stubbington at tommy.stubbington@wsj.com