European shares rallied in early trade on Monday, underpinned by stronger banking stocks, Reuters reported. By 0814 GMT, the STOXX 600 was up 1 percent. Last week the pan-European index marked its biggest weekly loss since February. While no sector was trading in the red, banks rose more than 2 percent, helped by strong gains in HSBC after the emerging markets-focused bank posted a sharp jump in its core capital, bolstering the outlook for near-term dividend payments. The top STOXX gainer was PostNL, gaining 5.8 percent after the Dutch postal company rebuffed a raised takeover offer from Belgian rival Bpost, saying it wished to remain an independent group.
