Europe's industrials boosted by China data European stocks enjoyed a buoyant start to Tuesday's session after positive data out of China boosted industrial stocks. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 rose 0.8 per cent to 1,034.09, while major European indices all ticked up, as European equities shrugged off the recent downgrades by Standard & Poor's of, among others, France and the European Financial Stability Fund. "We've seen this before: a cataclysmic event (read French or US sovereign credit downgrade) has virtually no impact on the market," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at Forex.com. Even the latest S&P downgrade - stripping the EFSF of its triple A status caused the market to barely blink. The Xetra Dax rose 1.7 per cent to 6,330.06, hitting its highest level since the end of October. Gains for carmakers and manufacturers lifted the index, as hopes of a "soft-landing" in China buoyed both sectors. ThyssenKrupp jumped 4.6 per cent to €20.50, while MAN rose 3 per cent to €77.84. HeidelbergCement gained 4.8 per cent to €35.58, as cement-makers across Europe recovered from the previous session's losses. Holcim , which triggered Monday's slump after its fourth-quarter results revealed softening demand, also rallied 1.8 per cent to SFr51.90. French cement-maker Lafarge also jumped 3.8 per cent to €29.50, as the CAC 40 index rose 1.4 per cent to 3,270.70. European banks continued their positive start to 2012. ING enjoyed another strong session, gaining 4.1 per cent to €6.51 as analysts reacted positively to the Dutch financial services group's plans to meet new regulations. "The ING Investor Day confirmed our view on ING Bank, which can keep its balance sheet stable in the next four years, while increasing profitability," said Thomas Nagtegaal, an analyst at RBS. Although the Basel III guidance was a bit worse than expected, this is offset by a lower-than-expected RWA growth guidance. We therefore keep our "Buy" rating." UniCredit continued its recovery, gaining 5.3 per cent to €3.08. The Italian lender fell as low as €2.29 earlier this month after it announced a larger-than-expected discount on its rights issue, pricing the stock at €1.94. The FTSE MIB gained 1.2 per cent to 15,437.73. The Ibex 35, which has underperformed other European indices in 2012, rose 0.9 per cent to 8,528.2, pushed higher by gains for Spanish banks. BBVA rose by 1.7 per cent to €6.55 after it revealed plans to plug its capital shortfall, without resorting to a cash call.