UPDATE 3-European shares gather steam on Trump's restart plan

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* All major sub-sectors close higher
* Miners track best day in more than three weeks
* Reports of potential COVID-19 drug lift mood
* Airbus jumps as Boeing plans to restart production

(Adds comments, updates prices to close, changes graphic)
By Shreyashi Sanyal and Sagarika Jaisinghani
April 17 (Reuters) - European shares closed higher on
Friday, as President Donald Trump's plans to reopen the U.S.
economy, following similar steps announced in Europe, supported
hopes of a resumption of activity after weeks of lockdown.
Investors also drew comfort from reports of a potential drug
to treat COVID-19 made by U.S. drugmaker Gilead Sciences
GILD.O . The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX was up 2.6%,
staying positive for a second straight week, gaining in seven of
the past eight sessions on tentative signs the pandemic was
peaking in the worst hit parts of the continent.
All the major European sub-sectors were higher, with mining
stocks .SXPP on track for their best day in more than three
weeks, driven by higher commodity prices. MET/L
"President Trump coming out and saying the United States is
probably going to open some of the country, it just seems like
there's sort of a step towards going back to normal," said
Sylvia Jablonski, strategist and managing director at Direxion
in New York.
The benchmark STOXX 600 has recovered 24% since hitting an
eight-year low in March, powered by a raft of global stimulus,
but gains were subdued in the past week with economic data and
quarterly earnings underlining the business impact of lockdown
measures.
The economic landscape in two if the world's biggest
economies gave cause for concern. Data from China showed its
worst economic contraction in almost three decades, while weekly
U.S. jobless claims pushed the total for the past month above 20
million, yet there was no sign of weakness on Wall Street or in
Asia. MKTS/GLOB
"Markets tend to beat the economy in terms of recovery,
usually we'll see the markets recover before we see the actual
economy recover," Direxion's Jablonski said.
Jablonski expects a recovery in European economies by the
end of 2020 and a return to growth in 2021. "I just think it's a
multi layered crisis," he said.
Late on Thursday, Trump laid out guidelines to reopen U.S.
states in a staggered, three-stage approach, but his plan was
thin on detail and left decisions largely up to individual
states. It followed announcements on easing restrictions in Germany,
Italy, Spain and some other parts of Europe.
Lifting the mood further on Friday, a report gave
encouraging data from trials of Gilead Sciences' experimental
drug remdesivir in severe COVID-19 patients. "If proven effective, remdesivir would be a game-changer in
the COVID-19 pandemic fight, especially being a legacy drug that
has been around for many years," Jeffrey Halley, a market
analyst at OANDA, said.
Airbus AIR.PA jumped 6.8% and was on course for its best
day in three weeks as U.S. rival Boeing BA.N said it would
resume commercial airplane production next week in Washington
state after suspending operations last month. The global aerospace industry has been hammered this year by
the suspension of global travel, forcing large-scale production
halts and mass furloughs. Airbus and Boeing have lost more than
half their value since January.
Nokia NOKIA.HE rose 1.2% on a report it was working with
an investment bank to defend itself from a hostile takeover.
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