Europe’s bourses finished well in the black, bouncing back from the four-week lows they hit at the end of last week.

Stocks were boosted by news from the United States where the service sector was stronger than expected in September according to the Institute for Supply Management’s services index. European telecoms shares rose, helped by a merger deal between Norway’s Telenor and its Russian partner Alfa Group. Among the gainers were Telefonica and France Telecom. Miners advanced, supported by slightly firmer copper prices thanks to an weaker dollar and by some positive broker comment from RBS indicating that China could be interested in acquiring mining assets as the recovery process gets underway. But energy companies slipped with crude oil prices down over two percent thanks to easing supply concerns surrounding Iran and Nigeria.More about: Markets

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