European shares rise as strong China data boosts recovery hopes

(Reuters) – European shares rose on Monday, hovering near their nine-month highs, as strong China data and hopes of a COVID-19 vaccine renewed bets for a quicker economic recovery.

China’s factory output rose faster than expected in October and retail sales surged as the recovery in the world’s second-largest economy from its COVID-19 slump gathered momentum.

The pan-European STOXX 600 <.stoxx> rose 0.7% by 0805 GMT, with banks <.sx7p> and travel stocks <.sxtp> gaining the most.

Vodafone Group , the world’s second-largest mobile operator, gained 2.6% after it said it was increasingly confident about its full-year performance following a “resilient” first-half, despite underlying momentum being obscured by the impact of COVID-19.

(Reporting by Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)