Shares in Europe advanced in early trade, tracking gains in Asia after robust Chinese factory data, and largely shaking off weak manufacturing data in the Euro-zone.
At the time of writing, Britain's FTSE rose 1.5%, France's CAC advanced 2.2% while Germany's DAX was trading 2% higher.
Mining stocks were among the major gainers after metal prices rose on the Chinese data. BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata climbed between 3.2% and 4.1%. In financials, Barclays, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole added about 2.8% each.
Security firm G4S Plc surged 6.3% after posting robust quarterly earnings.
Data released early showed Euro-zone manufacturing PMI slipped to 49.7 in August, compared to 50.4 in the previous. A number below 50 indicates contraction in activity.
But the report was unable to pull equities lower. Investors now await the German Zew indicator of economic activity.