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(Corrects story filed on Monday, saying name of the firm in
paragraph 5 is "Kingswood Group" not "Henderson Rowe")
* Britain's Boris Johnson to push for Brexit deal vote
* Germany outperforms with help from SAP, Wirecard
* Defensive shares among decliners; miners, banks lead gains
By Sruthi Shankar
Oct 21 (Reuters) - European shares broke a three-day run of
losses on Monday, as investors stuck to hopes that Britain will
avoid a disorderly exit from the European Union, while positive
corporate updates and comments on U.S.-China trade talks added
to the upbeat mood.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended the session
0.6% higher, barely budging on news House of Commons speaker
John Bercow refused to allow a vote on Prime Minister Boris
Johnson's Brexit divorce deal, saying the same issue had been
discussed on Saturday.
A spokesman said the government would now introduce Brexit
legislation this week. Lawmakers on Saturday forced the British
government to seek a delay to the Oct. 31 deadline, which
analysts said reduced the chances of a no-deal Brexit.
London's blue-chip FTSE 100 was up 0.2%, lagging the
broader markets due to a strong pound, while the FTSE mid-cap
index of domestically focused stocks closed up 0.4%.
"The chances of a deal one way or the other are higher than
they were two weeks ago, which is why the market is not falling
back," said Rupert Thompson, head of research at Kingswood
Group.
"The way it would be, we're more than half way through if
you actually saw the deal being approved by the Parliament."
Germany's GDAXI jumped 0.9%, leading gains among
major regional indexes.
Business software group SAP's shares gained 2.5%
after saying it had reached a three-year deal with Microsoft
to help its enterprise customers move their business
processes into the cloud. The company also reiterated its
forecast for the year and through to 2023.
DEFENSIVE SECTORS
German payments company Wirecard jumped 6% on news
the firm was hiring KPMG to conduct an independent audit to
address allegations in the Financial Times that its finance team
had sought to inflate its reported sales and profits.
Most sub-sectors were in the black, led by miners
and banks, but defensive sectors including healthcare
and real estate lagged the broader market.
Aiding sentiment, a White House official said that U.S.
tariffs scheduled for December on Chinese goods could be
withdrawn if negotiations continue to go well.
Investors will be scanning third-quarter report cards from
European firms to assess their health amid lingering Brexit and
trade uncertainties. UK-listed RBS and Barclays
are scheduled to report this week, kicking off bank earnings.
Companies listed in STOXX 600 are expected to report a 3.7%
drop in third-quarter earnings, worse than the 3% fall expected
a week ago, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
However, early reports were positive, with shares of Swedish
engineering firm Atlas Copco jumping nearly 10% to
the top of STOXX 600 after it reported forecast-beating
third-quarter earnings and order bookings on strong demand from
chipmakers.
By contrast Smith+Nephew sank 9% after the medical
device maker said its Chief Executive Namal Nawana was stepping
down after just 17 months in the role.
Meanwhile, the Berlin government's move to freeze rents put
real estate companies such as Deutsche Wohnen, Ado
Properties and Vonovia under pressure. Their
shares fell between 1% and 2.6%.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru
Editing by David Holmes)
