Alstom and H&M rise as European shares climb higher

LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - European stocks rose on Monday to rebound from losses last week caused by worries over China's currency devaluation, with shares in French industrial group Alstom (Paris: FR0010220475 - news) outperforming.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up by 0.9 percent while the euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index also moved 1 percent higher.

Alstom shares rose around 7 percent, after two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that General Electric was expected to secure EU approval for its proposed 12.4-billion-euro ($13.8 billion) bid for Alstom's power business.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in Hennes & Mauritz also advanced by 2.4 percent after the fashion retailer reported higher sales. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Alistair Smout)