MILAN: European shares turned higher on Monday, helped by encouraging data from an array of coronavirus vaccine candidates and after EU leaders sketched a framework agreement on a recovery fund to stimulate the pandemic-stricken euro zone economies.

An index of eurozone shares rose 0.9% reversing all of its opening losses, with the euro jumping to a four-month high. An experimental coronavirus vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford university was safe and produced an immune response in its first human trial, while US drugmaker Pfizer and German biotech firm BioNTech also provided additional promising data.

The pan-European equities index also reversed course to rise 0.8% after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said leaders now had a new basis for a deal on a 750 billion euro ($858 billion) recovery fund and the bloc's next 2021-2027 common budget, worth around 1.1 trillion euros.

Defensive healthcare index rose the most in Europe, up 1.2% as signs emerged that leaders of northern European Union countries were willing to compromise on the recovery plan as talks in Brussels extended to a fourth day.

In individual stock moves, Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer Gruppe AG declined 3% as it reported a 6% drop in assets under management from end-2019 in the six months through June.

Dutch health technology company Philips NV gained 5.3% as it expected to return to growth in the second half of the year. Italy's UBI Banca SpA surged 14% after Intesa Sanpaolo SpA raised its bid for the rival by 18%.