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March 15 (Reuters) - European stocks rose on Monday on gains in French food company Danone and Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding, with optimism about a strong economic rebound calming concerns about quickening inflation.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.7% in early trading, inching closer a record peak set last year, with travel and leisure .SXTP , automakers .SXAP and food & beverage sectors .SX3P among the top gainers.
Danone DANO.PA jumped 4.9% after the company's board ousted Emmanuel Faber as its chairman and chief executive due to growing pressure from shareholders. ROG.S rose 1% after it said it would buy GenMark Diagnostics GNMK.O , a U.S.-based maker of molecular diagnostic tests, in a $1.8 billion deal. was also boosted by a surge in China's factory and retail sector activity in the first two months of the year, beating expectations, as the economy consolidated its brisk recovery from the coronavirus paralysis of early 2020. shares of carmaker Stellantis STLA.MI STLA.PA gained 3.9% after Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) started coverage with "buy" rating.