Europe close: Stocks jump on reports of China easing some Covid-19 curbs
European shares surged on reports that China was set to ease some of its tough Covid curbs and despite weak eurozone survey data.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 1.81% at 416.98, alongside a 2.51% advance for the German Dax to 13,459.85, although Spain's Ibex 35 trailed behind with a gain of 0.94% to 7,942.70.
Such was the jolt from the China news that euro/dollar snapped violently higher, adding 1.75% to 0.9920.
Non-farm payrolls figures for October in the US surprised handily to the upside with a 261,000 person print, although some observers gave some weight to separate data in the same report showing 328,000 decline in employment.
China approved BioNTech SE's mRNA Covid-19 vaccine for use among the expatriate population in the People's Republic of China.
During German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's visit to Beijing, he and Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, also broached the subject of a pathway for approval of the vaccine for use among the wider Chinese population, The Wall Street Journal reported.
And according to Bloomberg News, Beijing might be set to ease some restrictions on incoming flights.
In the UK, bond yields were little changed even after Andrew Hauser, the Bank of England's executive director for markets, told a European Central Bank conference that the BoE wanted to sell some of the gilts it bought to prop up markets in the wake of the government's abandoned mini-budget proposals.
Elsewhere on the economic front, eurozone business activity contracted in October as the cost-of-living crisis hit demand, the S&P Global composite PMI survey revealed on Friday.
Its final composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the 19-country single currency bloc euro zone fell to a 23-month low of 47.3 in October from September's 48.1, but a above the preliminary reading of 48.1
A reading of below 50 indicates contraction.
"After a weak third quarter of PMI and official GDP data, the latest survey results for the start of the fourth quarter suggest the euro zone economy is now headed for a winter recession," said S&P Global Market Intelligence senior economists.
To add to the gloom, German factory orders fell a lot more than expected in September, according to official figures, stoking further the fears of a recission.
Factory orders declined by 4% on the previous month following a 2% drop in August, missing expectations for a 0.5% fall. On the year, orders were down 10.8% in September following a 3.8% decline the month before and versus expectations for an 8.8% fall.
In equity news, shares in Societe Generale, France’s third-biggest listed bank, rose as it posted a higher-than-expected net income in the third quarter as market volatility boosted trading revenues.
Austrian tech firm Andritz surged on positive third-quarter results.