Europe close: Shares higher across the Continent despite weak data, slide in oil futures
Stocks on the Continent finished the session higher and near their best levels in reaction to the more positive headlines around the ongoing trade talks between the US and China.
Overnight, the US President and two high-ranking Chinese officials appeared to strike a positive note regarding the possibility of making progress on trade negotiations between the two countries at the G-20 summit scheduled for next week in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Equity markets did see some selling pressure mid-morning, following the release of poor readings on two key gauges of factory and services sector activity in the Eurozone.
Yet by the end of trading, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was ahead by 0.40% or 1.41 points to 353.98, alongside a 0.49% or 54.20 point gain for the German Dax to 11,192.69, while the FTSE Mibtel was up by 0.60% or 111.86 points to 18,714.90.
Also weighing on investor sentiment was another wave of selling late in the session that pushed front month Brent crude oil futures down by 5.93% to $58.89 a barrel on the ICE.
Meanwhile, the Stoxx 600's Oil & Gas sector gauge was down by 2.72% to 311.27.
Nevertheless, some economists took a more sanguine view of affairs, pointing out that lower energy prices would help buoy economic growth in Europe.
IHS Markit's 'flash' euro area manufacturing sector Purchasing Managers' Index printed at 51.5 for November, a 30-month low, and down from 52.0 in October.
The equivalent PMI for the services sector meanwhile dropped from 53.7 to 53.1, hitting a 25-month low.
Commenting on the figures, Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, said: "As such, the survey data suggest that the weakness of GDP in the third quarter may not have been a blip, and that the underlying trend is one of slower economic growth. The PMI readings so far in the fourth quarter are indicative of 0.3% GDP growth, with forward-looking indicators such as new orders and future expectations remaining worryingly subdued."
In parallel, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Italian Treasury note was down by five basis points to 3.41%,
That was despite a report earlier in the session from ANSA according to which Italian deputy prime minister, Luigi di Maio, had said Rome was willing to take talks with the European Commission to the "bitter end" in order to reach an agreement.
On the corporate front, shares in Greece's Piraeus Bank were up by 3.33% to €0.95 amid reports that Athens was weighing up a plan to help the country's lenders speed-up its bad loan disposals, possibly including by providing a state guarantee.