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* STOXX 600 touches highest level since July 2015
* SES SA plunges after FCC Chairman 5G auction statement
* EasyJet jumps on posting FY profit on top end of targets
(Adds comments, updates market action)
By Sruthi Shankar and Shreyashi Sanyal
Nov 19 (Reuters) - Growth-dependent cyclical stocks drove
European shares to a four-year high on Tuesday as a temporary
reprieve for China's Huawei from U.S. sanctions encouraged bets
that the world's largest economies could reach a trade truce.
After a hesitant start, the pan-European STOXX 600 index
rose 0.5% to its highest level since July 2015, with
cyclical sectors rallying. The index is now flirting with record
highs hit in April 2015.
Automakers rebounded from their worst session in six
weeks as data showed passenger car registrations in Europe rose
to their highest since 2009 in October, driven by robust demand
in Germany and France, and a rebound in demand for Volkswagen
.
Volkswagen shares rose 2%, while trade-reliant miners
and industrials gained between 0.9 and 1%.
The Trump administration on Monday issued a new 90-day
extension allowing U.S. companies to continue doing business
with China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.
The report soothed nerves after a report on Monday that said
Beijing was pessimistic about the prospects of sealing a trade
pact with Washington.
"The daily (gain) for stock markets shows investors are not
necessarily buying the negative headlines," said Craig Erlam,
senior market analyst at Oanda in London. "There seems to be a
general feeling of when, rather if at all, a deal will be
struck."
After a shaky few months for stock markets, worried by the
prospect that the trade issues would drive the world economy
into recession, third quarter corporate results over the last
month have proved less bad than feared, fuelling a new rally.
Most sectors in the benchmark European index rose, with
media stocks one outlier due to a 19.7% slide for
Luxemburg-based satellite provider SES after Federal
Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai said he backed a
public rather than private auction of spectrum for
next-generation 5G wireless networks.
Another macro-driven sector, travel & leisure,
gained 1%, powered by a 3.8% jump in shares of Britain's easyJet
after it posted full-year profit towards the top end of
expectations.
In corporate M&A, shares in Germany's TLG Immobilien
rose 2.4% after announcing an all-stock merger with
fellow real estate firm Aroundtown SA.
Halma Plc led gains on the FTSE 100 after
the British safety equipment maker posted upbeat first-half
results.
Intermediate Capital Group jumped 7.7% to a record
high as the alternative asset manager posted robust first-half
results and a 50% increase in dividend.
London's domestically focused midcap index rose 1%
after latest polling by ICM for Reuters showed Prime Minister
Boris Johnson's Conservative Party had extended its lead over
the opposition Labour Party in the past week.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru;
Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Patrick Graham)
