UPDATE 2-Stocks in London log best day in three weeks on recovery hopes

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* UK factory PMI shows fastest growth since 2017
* No-trade deal Brexit is still possible - UK minister
* Homebuilders rise as house price inflation jumps
* FTSE 100 up 1.9%; FTSE 250 adds 2.6%

(Updates prices to close, adds comments)
By Shivani Kumaresan and Shreyashi Sanyal
Dec 1 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 and mid-cap FTSE 250
had their best session in three weeks on Tuesday as upbeat
Chinese factory data fuelled hopes for a global economic
recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
Data showed China's factory activity accelerated at the
fastest pace in a decade in November, while British factories
showed their fastest growth in almost three years. The Chinese data drove a surge in Asia-focussed banks
.FTNMX8350 , which gained 5.6%, while the blue-chip FTSE 100
.FTSE rose 1.9%, after its biggest monthly gain in more than
three decades, and the FTSE 250 .FTMC added 2.6%.
"The FTSE 100 is a global bellwether so any data that
supports cyclical recovery is going to benefit the UK markets,"
Oliver Brennan, senior macro strategist at TS Lombard, said.
Attention was also focused on Brexit trade talks, with a
senior British minister saying there was still a chance of a
turbulent divorce without a deal. "A no deal outcome might actually give the FTSE 100 a
short-term boost as the likely resulting drop in sterling boosts
the relative value of the overseas earnings which dominate the
index," Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said.
The FTSE 100 has rallied nearly 30% from an eight-year-low
in March on the back of unprecedented fiscal and monetary
stimulus and, more recently, signs that an effective COVID-19
vaccine would be available before the end of the year.
But the index is still down about 16% this year,
underperforming the European benchmark STOXX 600 index.
British house prices rose by the most in nearly six years in
November, data showed, lifting the FTSE homebuilders index
.FTNMX3720 by 1.9%.