UPDATE 4-European shares hit 8-month high on renewed vaccine hopes

* STOXX 600 logs best day in nearly six months
* Travel and leisure stocks among best performers
* Trade-reliant miners, auto stocks jump
* Brexit trade negotiations in focus

(Adds comments, updates prices throughout)
By Ambar Warrick and Shreyashi Sanyal
Nov 9 (Reuters) - European shares jumped to an eight-month
high on Monday after drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech flagged
strong progress in their COVID-19 vaccine, while Joe Biden's
election victory raised hopes of a more stable U.S. trade
policy.
Pfizer Inc PFE.N and BioNTech SE 22UAy.F said the
experimental vaccine was more than 90% effective in preventing
COVID-19, based on initial data from a large study. The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX jumped nearly 4% and
clocked its best day since late March. Travel and leisure stocks
.SXTP , which have been the hardest hit by the pandemic, were
among the best performing sectors, adding 7% to hit an
eight-month high.
BioNTech's shares jumped more than 15%, while Germany's main
stock index .GDAXI added 5%. The index was also boosted by
positive trade data for September. "News on the efficacy of a vaccine is an important piece of
the puzzle needed for the global economy and markets to put the
COVID-19 recession behind it," said Karen Ward, chief market
strategist EMEA at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
"Coupled with Biden's win, and a more predictable
multilateral approach to issues such as trade and climate
change, the stage is set for a more balanced return trajectory."
Optimism over a win on Saturday by Democratic candidate Joe
Biden in the U.S. election saw European stocks swiftly bouncing
back, with the STOXX 600 trading about 11% higher in November so
far.
But a resurgence in virus cases had hit markets hard last
month, with the STOXX 600 losing more than 5% after the UK,
Ireland and France all announced new nation-wide lockdowns.
Investor attention has also been on Brexit trade talks, with
Britain saying it was open to a "sensible" compromise on fishing
and that there was goodwill on both sides to progress towards a
trade deal. The export-heavy FTSE 100 .FTSE jumped 4.7%, while the
British mid-cap index .FTMC added 5.2%.
In company news, German chipmaker Infineon IFXGn.DE gained
3.5% as it forecast a nearly 23% jump in revenue in the year
ahead. British homebuilder Taylor Wimpey TW.L surged 18.6% after
saying it was set to deliver annual results towards the upper
end of expectations as the housing market recovered quicker than
expected from a coronavirus-led slump. Volumes for STOXX 600 were 2.8 times their 90-day daily
average by 1706 GMT as investors stormed to equity markets to
play the Biden win trade and a positive COVID-19 vaccine update
from Pfizer.