Europe close: Stocks finish September on a positive note
European stocks were mostly higher on Monday, having reversed earlier losses as investors eyed the latest developments in Sino-US trade and positive data from China and the Eurozone.
By the end of trading, the Stoxx 600 was up by 0.35% at 393.15 with the German Dax 0.38% higher to 12,428.08 and France's CAC 40 up by 0.66% to 5,677.79. Meanwhile, London's FTSE 100 was down 0.24% to 7,408.21.
According to reports published during the previous Friday, the Trump administration was looking to ramp up the pressure on Beijing by delisting Chinese stocks from US exchanges and limiting investment in the Chinese market by government pension funds.
Over the weekend, the US Treasury denied that it was contemplating such measures "at this time".
Analysts from Rabobank said: "Despite the approach of high level trade talks in Washington between US and the China next month and news that China is prepared to open up more sectors of its economy to foreign investors, there is clear risk that tensions on the trade front are likely to prevail for some months."
Meanwhile, China's official manufacturing PMI beat expectations but remained in contraction territory for the fifth consecutive month in September, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.
The official purchasing managers’ index for the manufacturing sector rose to 49.8 in September from 49.5 in August, exceeding expectations for an unchanged reading, while the private Caixin/Markit factory PMI survey also beat forecasts.
Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG, said: "Any downside over souring relations between the US and China have been lessened after a signal that the manufacturing sector is beginning to recover after a drawn-out decline."
In macro news, Eurozone unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked a little lower in August, dipping to 7.4% from July's reading of 7.5%, according to data released by Eurostat.
The unemployment rate for all 28 EU nations meanwhile came in at 6.2% in August, down from 6.3% in July and marking the lowest rate since the start of the EU monthly unemployment series in January 2000.
Among individual stocks, drugmaker Swedish Orphan Biovitrum dropped after confirming it had agreed to buy US rare diseases specialist Dova Pharmaceuticals in a deal that valued it at up to $915m.
British hotel and restaurant operator Whitbread was one of the top faller on the Stoxx 600 after analysts at Barclays cut their rating of the stock from 'overweight' to 'equal weight'.
Meanwhile, Dutch telecoms firm Royal KPN fell as it withdrew the appointment of Dominique Leroy as its new chief executive amid an investigation by Belgian authorities into the sale of her shares in former company Proximus.