* STOXX 600 up on broad-based gains
* Trump: "Dangerous" Huawei could be included in trade deal
* FTSE holds gains after UK PM May announces resignation
* Casino shares headed for best day since market debut
(Adds UK PM's resignation announcement, updates to closing)
By Susan Mathew
May 24 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Friday after U.S.
President Donald Trump predicted a swift end to a damaging trade
war with China.
The market appeared unfazed by British Prime Minister
Theresa May's resignation as Conservative party leader after
failing in a final attempt to win parliamentary support for her
divorce deal with the European Union.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX ended up 0.56% but
posted a weekly loss and remained on track for its first monthly
decline since a steep sell-off at the end of last year.
Trump said late on Thursday that U.S. complaints against
Huawei Technologies HWT.UL could be resolved within the
broader trade framework, though no high-level bilateral talks
have been scheduled yet. Deutsche Bank Research analysts said Trump's comments on
Huawei showed the issues were linked "and that he remains
amenable to a broad deal".
The STOXX 600 rose on broad-based gains led by the utility
sector .SX6P , gaining 1.3% percent for its best day in more
than two months.
Mining .SXPP stocks and insurers .SXIP followed, while
China-focused semiconductors stocks pushed the European tech
sector .SX8P 0.36% higher.
Milan's MIB .FTMIB led the way among country indexes with
its 1.2% rise, recovering from Thursday's more than 2% slide.
Germany's trade-sensitive DAX .GDAXI was up 0.5%.
London's FTSE 100 .FTSE held gains after May's widely
expected announcement. .L
May's said she would resign by June 7 after failing to
deliver Brexit, setting up a Conservative party contest that
will install a new British prime minister who could pursue a
cleaner break with the European Union.
"No surprise with that announcement, the bigger shock would
have been if she didn't announce a date," said Atlantic Markets'
John Woolfitt.
France's Casino CASP.PA shares topped STOXX 600, up 7.5%
after the retailer said its parent company Rallye's GENC.PA
filing for protection from creditors had no impact on the
execution of its strategy. Healthcare stocks Novartis and Roche were the biggest
gainers. Brokerage Jefferies maintained its positive stance on
EU large-cap pharma and named Roche its top pick.