UPDATE 2-European stocks gain on vaccine, stimulus hopes; earnings eyed

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* Pfizer, BioNTech's coronavirus vaccines make progress
* Finland's Neles at record high on Alfa Laval bid
* Ubisoft sinks after major management reshuffle
* STOXX 600 near 1-week high

(Updates to close)
By Sruthi Shankar and Susan Mathew
July 13 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Monday as
progress on a possible COVID-19 vaccine, some upbeat earnings
reports and stimulus talks fed into hopes of an economic
recovery from the coronavirus-induced downturn.
The pan-European STOXX .STOXX index rose 1%, with miners
.SXPP gaining 1.7% on optimism over China's recovery and
surging metal prices. .SS MET/L
Other growth-oriented sectors such as travel & leisure
.SXTP , banks .SX7P , technology stocks .SX8P and oil & gas
.SXEP rose between 1.9% and 1.4%.
Two experimental coronavirus vaccines by German biotech firm
BioNTech BNTX.O and U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer PFE.N
have received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's "fast
track" designation, the companies said on Monday. "The sooner a vaccine comes out the more confident economies
can get about opening up completely and start to get on the road
to recovery," said Michael Baker, analyst at ETX Capital in
London. He added that optimism also stems from the fact that the
companies involved are ones with the capacity to mass-produce.
Shares of BioNTech's depository receipt 22UAy.F on the
Frankfurt exchange jumped 13.5%.
This week also kicks off the U.S. and European quarterly
earnings season and includes a summit over the European Union
recovery fund and a European Central Bank policy meeting.
"There appears to be some optimism that forecasts have been
lowered to such an extent that businesses will be able to clear
this low bar and surpass expectations," AJ Bell Investment
Director Russ Mould said.
Companies listed on the STOXX 600 are expected to report a
54% drop in second-quarter profit, the worst ever reading for
Europe, according to Refinitiv data.
Nordic bank DNB DNB.OL rose 9.9% after an earnings beat,
while private security company G4S GFS.L gained 9.3% on
announcing that first-half profit would surpass expectations.
While the ECB is not expected to make a major move, European
leaders will meet on July 17-18 to hammer out details on the
$750 billion euro recovery fund. Financial markets have taken comfort from trillions of
dollars in stimulus even as the World Health Organization
reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases on
Sunday. In other company news, Finnish valves maker Neles NELES.HE
surged 37.6% and hit a record high after Swedish industrial
group Alfa Laval ALFA.ST announced a recommended 1.73 billion
euro ($1.96 billion) cash bid. Meanwhile, Atlantia ATL.MI slumped 15.2% after Italy's
prime minister dismissed the toll road operator's bid to keep
its lucrative toll road concession. French video games group Ubisoft UBIP.PA fell 5% as it
announced staff departures after a review in response to
allegations of misconduct at the company.