(Reuters) - The United States and China eased trade tensions over the weekend and helped the European market climb to a near two-month high in early dealings on Monday, with Germany's trade-sensitive DAX leading market gains.
U.S. and China agreed on Saturday to restart trade talks after President Donald Trump offered concessions including no new tariffs and reducing restrictions on tech company Huawei in order to lessen hostilities with Beijing.
The news helped shares in Asia gain overnight as investors piled into riskier assets, which took the shine off safe haven assets including gold and the yen.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (STOXX) rose 1.3% by 0706 GMT and Frankfurt's DAX (GDAXI) rallied 1.6%.
The lighter restrictions on Huawei, as well as a report that U.S. semiconductor equipment supplier Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), will buy Japan's Kokusai Electric for about $2.3 billion, helped European chipmakers jump in early trading.
Infineon (DE:IFXGn), Siltronic (DE:WAFGn), Dialog Semi (DE:DLGS) and STMicroelectronics (MI:STM) rose between 3% and 6% and pushed the technology sector (SX8P) to a one-year high.
Investors were also watching out for factory activity data from major European economies including Germany due later in the session, which follows disappointing reports out of Asia as the U.S.-China trade spat put a strain on the sector.