European shares rise to 6-week high led by Portugal

MILAN, Sept 18 (Reuters) - European shares rose to six-week highs in early deals on Monday following a strong session in Asia overnight and supported by gains among financial and industrial stocks.

While the pan-European STOXX index was up 0.6 percent by 0725 GMT, Portuguese stocks outperformed after the euro zone country returned to an investment grade rating after 5-1/2 years, boosting its bonds.

Portugal's PSI (Taiwan OTC: 8028.TWO - news) 20 index rose 1.8 percent to an eight-week high and was set for its biggest one-day gain since mid-July, with shares in bank BCP Millennium up 5 percent.

Among the biggest gainers on the STOXX were utilities EDF (Swiss: EDF.SW - news) and Fortum (LSE: 0HAH.L - news) , up 4.7 percent and 3.7 percent respectively, after both were upgraded by Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB - news) .

Ryanair was a weak spot, down 2.7 percent following its announcement of plans to cancel between 40 and 50 flights per day until the end of October, disrupting hundreds of thousands of journeys. (Reporting by Danilo Masoni, Editing by Kit Rees)