U.S.-China trade talks boost European shares as commodity stocks, banks rally

LONDON (Reuters) – News of talks between Beijing and Washington over an ongoing trade war between the world’s biggest economies boosted European shares on Friday after a gloomy week during which a rare revenue warning from Apple caused havoc.

Stocks sensitive to developments in the trade war, like carmakers, industrials, and miners, boosted the market while bank shares also rallied after China announced it would hold vice ministerial trade talks with the U.S. on Jan 7-8.

The mining sector .SXPP jumped 2 percent, the top gainer as copper prices recovered thanks to the trade talks, while autos .SXAP rose 1 percent and banks .SX7P climbed 1.3 percent.

Oil stocks .SXEP also rallied 1.8 percent after news of the China-U.S. trade talks boosted crude prices more than 1 percent.

Overall Europe’s STOXX 600 rose 0.8 percent while Germany’s DAX jumped 1 percent and the leading euro zone stocks index .STOXX50E gained 0.9 percent.

Outside trade-related moves, Bayer (BAYGn.DE) shares climbed 2.4 percent to top the DAX .GDAXI after a U.S. judge overseeing lawsuits alleging its glyphosate-based weed killer causes cancer issued a ruling that could restrict evidence the plaintiffs consider crucial to their cases.

Tech stocks .SX8P, which plunged 4 percent after Apple’s revenue warning, rose 0.6 percent on Friday – still underperforming the market.

Chipmaker AMS (AMS.S), which provides the facial recognition technology used in the latest iPhone, rose 1.3 percent – a hesitant recovery after Thursday’s 23 percent plunge.

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