UPDATE 2-European shares hit 6-week high on trade relief, stimulus hope

* China exempts 16 types of U.S. goods from more tariffs
* LSE hits new record before easing on HKEX's $39 bln bid
* ECB expected to ease policy on Thursday

(Updates to close)
By Sruthi Shankar and Medha Singh
Sept 11 (Reuters) - European shares hit six-week highs on
Wednesday, supported by easing U.S.-China trade tensions and
hopes of fresh stimulus from the European Central Bank, while
news from individual companies played into the upbeat mood.
Shares of London Stock Exchange LSE.L hit a record high
after Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing 0388.HK made an
unsolicited $39 billion takeover approach, but wanted LSE to
ditch its acquisition of data company Refinitiv. LSE's shares pared early gains, but closed up about 6%, its
biggest percentage gain since the company agreed to buy
Refinitiv in a $27 billion deal on Aug. 1.
Meanwhile, chipmakers including Infineon IFXGN.DE , Dialog
Semiconductor DLGS.DE , Siltronic WAFGn.DE and AMS AMS.S
gained between 1.8% and 3% after Apple Inc AAPL.O unveiled
three new iPhones on Tuesday. Shares in Prosus PRX.AS , a spin-off from Naspers that
includes the e-commerce group's 31% stake in Chinese tech giant
Tencent, surged more than 25% on their stock market debut in
Amsterdam, creating one of Europe's largest internet companies.
Europe's tech index .SX8P gained 1.2%, while the financial
services index .SXFP rose 1.5%, led by LSE.
Gains were broad-based, however, with all subsectors barring
oil and gas companies .SXEP finishing higher.
Investors have been piling into sectors that have lagged
broader markets in the past days, driving the banking index
.SX7P higher for the sixth straight session.
All eyes are now on the ECB's monetary policy meeting on
Thursday, where it is expected to cut interest rates and restart
an asset purchase programme at a time when the euro zone's
biggest economy - Germany - might be slipping towards recession.
"Even if you're not going to be short (on markets), you're
probably going to be cautiously long with the view of having
more cash lined up, to buy into the market depending how dovish
the ECB is," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets.
Recent market moves have highlighted investors' doubt about
how aggressive the central bank will be in providing stimulus,
helping debt yields recover.
In the latest sign that trade tensions with the United
States could be cooling, China's finance ministry said 16 types
of U.S. goods would be exempted from additional retaliatory
tariffs effective Sept. 17. Germany's trade-sensitive DAX .GDAXI rose 0.74%, while the
pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX gained 0.9% to hit its
highest since July 30.
London-listed blue-chips .FTSE outperformed European
peers, with mid-caps .FTMC getting an extra boost from
receding risks of Britain crashing out the European Union
without a divorce deal, at least for now. GBP/
All of the major European indexes have recouped losses
sustained in a rough August, with the STOXX 600 up about 8%
since touching a low of 361.07 last month.
Zara owner Inditex ITX.MC fell about 4% and was among the
biggest decliners on the pan-regional benchmark after it
reported weaker-than-expected growth in profit margins in the
first half of the year. Shares of Remy Cointreau RCOP.PA gained 3.7% after
Bloomberg reported the French spirits group was preparing to
name Richemont's CFR.S Eric Vallat as its new chief executive
officer.