LIVE MARKETS-Art - a $1.7 trillion asset class

* Upbeat China factory data boosts stocks * Pan-European STOXX 600 rises 0.4% * Miners and oil & gas top sectoral gainers * Ted Baker slumps 10% on overstated inventory Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of European equity markets brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Julien ¨Ponthus. Reach him on Messenger to share your thoughts on market moves: julien.ponthus.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net ART - A $1.7 TRILLION ASSET CLASS (1015 GMT) Just imagine if Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, one of the world's most famous painting, was trading on the Paris 'Arts' Exchange? Citi deep dives into the art market and some of those numbers does make us wonder, what if this was an asset that could be a part of a hedge fund portfolio? Art as an asset class has its scope with world's ultra-high net worth individuals owning art & collectibles worth a whopping $1.74 trillion - that's almost as much as Canada's GDP. "In recent decades, investors have increasingly categorized art as a type of ‘alternative’ asset class alongside hedge funds, private equity and real estate," Citi Private Bank strategists say. "Art could gain increasing recognition as an investment asset class over time given its rate of return and lack of correlation with major asset classes". With 5.3% annualized returns since 1985 and with limited correlation to top ten asset classes, art continues to act as a portfolio diversifier. Here's a cool chart on the annualized returns from art and other asset classes: (Thyagaraju Adinarayan) ***** EUROPEAN PMIS: GOOD NEWS, MUTED REACTION (0959 GMT) Positive data from European manufacturing this morning added to the good news from China and is yet another sign that the "bottoming out" narrative is building up its cred. The UK, Germany, Spain and France all got their PMIs above the Reuters poll. Interesting to note that the STOXX 600 and the main European bourses seem to have reached a peak at the end of the good news salvo. Here are the PMIs results: (Julien Ponthus) ***** OPENING SNAPSHOT: UP IT IS!(0828 GMT) The mood is a bit better than expected across European stocks exchanges, with most indexes and sectors comfortably in the black on that feel-good manufacturing data coming from China. The pan-European STOXX 600 is rising 0.5%, boosted by mining and oil stocks. In terms of individual movers, a lot of the action is coming from London with Ted Baker, down 9 percent on the accounting/inventory error. British online retailer Ocado is the biggest loser on the STOXX 600 with a 4 percent fall after issuing new convertible bonds. On the same index, Tullow Oil is the top performer with a 4.5% rise on reports it agreed to sell stake in its Ugandan oil fields. In terms of big winners, Denmark's Chemometec jumped over 10% after hiring a new CEO. The departure of the incumbent triggered an 18 pct fall on Friday. Let's see if sentiment stays the same after all the European manufacturing data is published this morning. (Julien Ponthus) ***** ON THE RADAR: TED BAKER, CHEMOMETEC AND DEUTSCHE BANK (0745 GMT) It wasn't expected to be a particularly busy day in terms of corporate news but there should nevertheless be a bit of market price action at the open with notably Ted Baker, which just announced that the value of its inventory has been overstated. Another likely volatile stock is Denmark’s Chemometec, which has appointed a new CEO after the unexpected departure of the incumbent triggered a 18% fall Friday. Deutsche Bank will also be closely watched with a Reuters exclusive indicating the lender’s role in the Danske money laundering scandal is being thoroughly investigated in the U.S. In M&A, the takeover battle for Just Eat is also in the spotlight after shareholder Cat Rock Capital said Takeaway.com offer should be accepted unless Prosus ups its bid to 925p. Unicredit’s sale of a stake in Turkey’s Yapi could also give the Italian lender a little boost at the open. In Switzerland the ongoing dispute for of Schmolz+Bickenbach could also make some sparkle. Lastly Premier Oil announced a gas discovery which could cheer up investors. (Julien Ponthus) ***** MORNING CALL: SOME OPTIMISM RISING IN THE EAST (0629 GMT) European bourses are expected to open higher for their first day of trading in December thanks to upbeat China manufacturing surveys and hopes (yes, sorry, you've read that before) that the world's second economy and the United States will do a preliminary trade deal. On the first point, a few salvos of European Manufacturing PMIs this morning should also help investors decide whether the old continent's economy is indeed bottoming out. Financial spreadbetters see London's FTSE opening 32 points higher, Frankfurt's DAX to gain 51 points and Paris' CAC to rise 15 points. (Julien Ponthus) ***** (Reporting by Danilo Masoni, Joice Alves, Julien Ponthus and Thyagaraju Adinarayan)