Europe close: Buyers step in after recent sharp falls

(Sharecast News) - European stocks rallied on Monday, despite a sluggish session in Asia overnight on the back of softer-than-expected inflation data out in China last Friday's weak US jobs report and mixed eurozone survey data. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.82% at 510.70 with all major regional bourses in the green alongside.

"Friday's selloff has been countered by a wave of buying from investors, while the VIX has dropped back sharply," IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp told clients.

"The drop in the chances of a 50bps rate hike suggests that a calmer attitude prevails among investors, despite the slew of weaker jobs data from the US. Much now hangs on the CPI report, especially since Friday's payroll report failed to provide much new information on the US economy."

In fresh economic news, the eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence Index declined to -15.4 in September from -13.9 in August, according to the latest survey data released on Monday.

The expectations Index for the eurozone recovered to -8.0 from August's -8.8, but the 'current situation' gauge for the region dropped to -22.5 from -19.0 in August, driven by worries about Germany after extreme right parties made gains in recent elections.

In equity news, gambling group Entain surged on a positive trading update after it said online net gaming revenue growth during the second half to date has been ahead of its expectations.

Computacenter fell as it released interim earnings.

Shares in luxury goods makers Kering and Burberry were lower fell after a downgrade to 'underweight' from 'equalweight' at Barclays, which cited structural brand weakness in China.