UPDATE 2-Positive trade sentiment nudges European stocks higher

* China says top trade negotiators hold phone call
* London's Compass Group tumbles after results
* French car parts maker Faurecia rises on strong forecast
* STOXX 600 rises for the third straight session

(Updates to close)
By Medha Singh
Nov 26 (Reuters) - European stocks rose for the third
straight session on Tuesday, lifted by hopes that the ongoing
negotiations between United States and China would yield a trade
truce.
Swiss drugmaker Vifor Pharma VIFN.S was the top performer
on the pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX after the company
announced the success of avacopan as a treatment for a
autoimmune disease in a trial.
Irish shares of CRH CRH.I CRH.L rose nearly 3% after the
building materials supplier posted a rise in quarterly profit on
a like-for-like basis helped by strong demand and pricing which
it expects to continue in 2020. Its shares helped the construction & materials subsector
.SXOP gain nearly 1%.
After a sluggish start, the STOXX 600 .STOXX index
gradually crept up 0.1% as major U.S. stock indexes .SPX
.IXIC .DJI notched record highs.
Trade negotiators from China and the United States discussed
issues related to phase one of a trade agreement on Tuesday and
agreed to maintain communication on remaining issues, China's
Commerce Ministry said. White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said both countries are
close to agreement on the initial deal but three big sticking
points remain. "U.S.-China relations continue to drive markets," said
Joshua Mahony, Senior Market Analyst at IG. "A call between the
U.S. and China provided a renewed focus on getting that first
stage deal across the line."
Hopes that the world's top two economies would hammer out a
deal to end their trade war, along with a better-than-feared
third-quarter earnings, has helped the benchmark STOXX 600 rise
about 3% so far in November, its third straight monthly climb.
Among major country indexes, Italy .FTMIB was leading
gains with its 0.4% rise while those in Britain .FTSE and
Spain .IBEX posted modest gains.
UK's midcaps index .FTMC outperformed with its 0.8% jump,
boosted by a surge in shares of Pets at Home Group Plc PETSP.L
after the company forecast full-year underlying pretax profit
towards the top end of current market view. Shares of French car parts maker Faurecia EPED.PA rose 2%
as it said it was targeting record sales, profits and cash
generation in 2022, partly helped by a boost from its
acquisition of Japanese company Clarion. Among decliners, Compass Group CPG.L tumbled more than 7%
as the world's biggest catering firm warned that hundreds of
jobs could be in jeopardy as a part of a program to stem costs,
as the weakening economic outlook in Europe dented its volumes
and margins.