European shares lifted by stronger mining and telecom stocks

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* STOXX 600 rises, but still down around 8 pct in 2016

By Sudip Kar-Gupta

LONDON, Oct (HKSE: 3366-OL.HK - news) 14 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Friday to claw back ground lost in the previous session, with mining and telecoms stocks outperforming, while hedge fund Man Group (LSE: EMG.L - news) also surged higher.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.8 percent.

The index remains down by around 8 percent so far in 2016, but Clairinvest fund manager Ion-Marc Valahu backed having a "long" position to bet on more gains for European stocks.

He cited expectations that Deutsche Bank (LSE: 0H7D.L - news) would reach a settlement with U.S. authorities over alleged mis-selling of mortgage backed securities as one reason for this.

Deutsche Bank shares were up 2.3 percent, and Valahu also cited expectations that Italy would fix problems with its struggling banks as a further reason to stay upbeat on European stocks.

"You should stay 'long' on European equities. I expect positive resolutions on Deutsche Bank and Italian banks," he said.

Mining stocks outperformed after a batch of solid economic data from China, the top global consumer of metals and the world's second-biggest economy.

Data showed that China's producer prices unexpectedly rose in September for the first time in nearly five years, while consumer inflation quickened to 1.9 percent from a year earlier, also beating market expectations.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in French telecoms group SFR climbed 5.1 percent after rival Altice (Other OTC: ATSVF - news) acquired another 5 percent stake in SFR, with the broader STOXX Europe 600 telecoms index advancing by 0.9 percent.

Shares in British hedge fund Man Group jumped by more than 10 percent after the company reported a rise in assets under management, and announced a share buyback and the acquisition of investment management company Aalto.

"Overall, we think is an encouraging release, and reiterate our 'Buy'," said Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Philip Middleton in a research note. (Editing by Kevin Liffey)