European stocks open higher on China manufacturing, delayed Syria intervention

European stock markets are trading sharply higher on Monday, benefiting from the likely delay to any military response in Syria after U.S. President Barack Obama decided over the weekend to ask Congress to authorize the mission. The leaders of the House and Senate said they would hold votes on the need for military action in Syria during the week of Sept. 9.

Stocks advanced the most in eight weeks, rebounding from their second weekly drop, also because a gauge of Chinese manufacturing activity exceeded economists’ estimates. U.S. index futures and Asian shares also climbed.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 1.3% to 301.29 at 8:07 a.m. in London. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring this month gained 0.8% and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.7% as US markets are closed today for the Labor Day holiday.

“The better-than-expected read of 51 in China’s PMI follows a series of improved statistics and is confirmation that growth rates in China’s economy have now been consolidating since July,” Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, wrote in an e-mail for Bloomberg.

The Stoxx 600 lost 2.4% last week to its lowest level since July 17 amid concern that the U.S. and its allies will take military action against Syria. The index has still risen 7.9% from a June 24 low as central banks promised support of the global economy and a report showed the euro area emerged from a recession in the second quarter.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he will ask members of Congress to support his plan for a military strike on Syria. Congressional leaders have agreed to debate military action against the Middle Eastern country once lawmakers return from their recess on Sept. 9. Britain’s parliament last week rejected a proposed strike.

Vodafone rose 4.3% to 214.9 pence. Europe’s largest mobile-phone operator confirmed that it has held advanced discussions with Verizon about selling its 45% stake in their joint venture for $130 billion.

BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto advanced 1.9% to 1,914 pence and 2.5% to 2,985 pence, respectively. A gauge of mining-company shares posted the second best performance of the 19 industry groups on the Stoxx 600.