* Euro STOXX 600 gains 2.1%
* Manufacturing data adds to recovery hopes
* Tech index jumps to highest since 2001
* Dollar edges away from two-year lows
* Graphic: 2020 asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
(Updates prices throughout)
By Tom Wilson
LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Shares gained strongly on
Wednesday as investors bet that improving economic data and more
policy stimulus from Washington would add momentum for equities.
European stocks .STOXX gathered steam through morning
trading, gaining 2.1% and were set to snap four straight days of
losses. London, Frankfurt and Paris indexes .FTSE .GDAXI
.FCHI were all up between 1.7%-2.4%.
Tech shares .SX8P jumped 2.7% to their highest in more
than 19 years, while the chemical .SX4P sector also starred,
adding 3%.
The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks
shares in 49 countries, rose 0.2%. Wall Street futures gauges
pointed to gains of 0.7%
Fuelling the optimism were bets that the world's major
economies were recovering from the damage caused by the
coronavirus pandemic. Economic data over recent days has fuelled
such expectations, buoying stocks and helping the dollar rise
from two-year lows.
On Tuesday, data showed that U.S. manufacturing activity
sped to a nearly two-year high in August on a surge in new
orders, its highest level since November 2018.
"The data in the U.S. is telling us that the recovery is on
track, and this is good news," said Alessia Berardi, senior
economist at Amundi, adding there was a "disconnection" between
economic fundamentals and market positioning.
"It's too early to say that we will shift the recovery to a
much stronger acceleration, or a V-shaped recovery," she said.
The U.S. data followed similarly upbeat Chinese and European
manufacturing indicators this week. Still, recovery from the euro zone's deepest recession on
record will take two years or more, according to a Reuters poll
of economists last month, although investors spoke of cautious
optimism.
"We do need to focus on what the numbers are telling us,"
said Gregory Perdon, co-chief investment officer at Arbuthnot
Latham. "We are trying to cautiously embrace risk, without
trying to be foolish about it."
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS had earlier risen 0.3%.
On Tuesday, both the S&P 500 .SPX and Nasdaq .IXIC
closed at record, with the technology sector and Apple AAPL.O
leading the charge. Tech giants have been among the winners in
the emerging recovery.
WAITING FOR WASHINGTON
Also feeding the positive mood were signs that Washington
was moving closer to offering some fiscal stimulus support to
counter damage from the coronavirus.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said on Tuesday that
Republicans in the Senate were likely to take up a COVID-19
relief bill next week offering $500 billion in additional
federal aid. The administration was still weighing help for U.S.
airlines, he added. Yet congressional negotiations on further federal
intervention remain at a standstill after the Democratic-led
U.S. House of Representatives passed its $3.4 trillion measure
in May.
With the dollar faltering in recent weeks over fears that
the U.S. recovery may lag that of China and the euro zone, the
factory data was welcomed by currency traders.
The dollar index =USD added 0.4% at 92.612, rising on
Tuesday its lowest since April 2018 at 91.737.
In commodities, oil rose towards $46 a barrel, gaining for a
third day. Brent crude LCOc1 , the global benchmark, was up 1
cents at $45.68 a barrel.
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(For Reuters Live Markets blog on European and UK stock
markets, please click on: LIVE/
Reporting by Tom Wilson, editing by Larry King and Angus
MacSwan)