European shares steady on mixed trade signals, luxury stocks steal show

LONDON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - European shares steadied after stellar gains on Wednesday, as mixed signals on a U.S.-China "phase-one" trade deal continued to discourage investors from making risky bets.

The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.3% by 0814 GMT, mainly driven by bond proxy utilities, healthcare and real estate sectors.

The trade-sensitive German blue-chip index was flat.

"Back to 2019 and we are living in a pre-December 15th world where one headline or tweet on trade has the ability to turn a good day into a bad one and visa-versa," Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid said. A further set of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods is set to take effect on Dec. 15.

Luxury stocks were the pick of the day after Bloomberg reported that Gucci-owner Kering held "exploratory" talks about a potential deal with Italian luxury puffer coat maker Moncler.

The news sent Moncler's shares up 11%, also boosting its local peers Salvatore Ferragamo and Tod's shares up 3%. (Reporting by Thyagaraju Adinarayan; Editing by Hugh Lawson)