Last checked at 
(For a live blog on European stocks, type LIVE/ in an Eikon
news window)
* Cineworld soars on cash boost, targets July reopening
* Defensive sectors lead late rally in Europe
* Markets ignore U.S.-China tensions for now
(Updates to market close)
By Sruthi Shankar
May 28 (Reuters) - European shares rose for a fourth
straight session on Thursday, as optimism over businesses
returning to work and stimulus for the battered euro zone
economy outweighed rising U.S.-China tensions.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 1.6% to hit
an 11-week high, with healthcare stocks rebounding from
losses earlier this week.
GlaxoSmithKline, the world's largest vaccine maker,
gained 2.1% as it laid out plans to produce 1 billion doses of
vaccine efficacy boosters for COVID-19 shots next year.
Other defensive sectors such as personal & household goods
, telecoms and utilities also rose.
UK cinema operator Cineworld surged 21.4% to the
top of the STOXX 600 after saying it expected to reopen all its
venues in July and had secured additional liquidity.
The STOXX 600 has risen more than 32% from its March lows as
investors hope for a gradual recovery with policymakers
injecting trillions of dollars into the global economy and
drugmakers racing to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
The mood in Europe has brightened this week on a
750-billion-euro ($826.35 billion) EU plan to prop up the bloc's
virus-hit economies, while hopes are running high the European
Central Bank will further expand its bond purchase programme
next week, possibly by 500 billion euros.
"I think there's a good chance they will expand their...
asset purchase program," Nicola Mai, sovereign credit analyst at
PIMCO told the Reuters Global Markets Forum.
"The current purchase envelope will likely be exhausted
before year end, and the ECB may want to start providing some
more certainty that it remains in play beyond that."
Investors looked past a fresh escalation in Sino-U.S.
tensions after China's parliament approved a decision to move
forward with national security legislation for Hong Kong.
U.S. President Donald Trump has promised to take action over
the move by the end of the week.
"Markets are taking solace from the fact that neither party
seems incentivised to escalate threats economically so far. But
I think there will be a point when markets will be fixated on
U.S.-China tensions," said Brooks Macdonald Asset Management's
Edward Park.
Italian luxury group Salvatore Ferragamo surged
16% after it called back its former chief executive officer to
help weather the COVID-19 storm.
And Scandinavian airline SAS slumped 11.2% after
revealing it was in talks with shareholders to raise funds as
the collapse in travel demand hurt its quarterly results.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; additional reporting
by Aaron Saldanha and Lisa Mattackal; Editing by Kirsten
Donovan)
