SYDNEY, April 18 Reuters European stocks held near a 14month high on Tuesday, following betterthanexpected Chinese economic data, while Sterling rose after wage growth numbers also exceeded forecasts and supported expectations for a further Bank of England rate rise.

Europe39;s broad STOXX 600 index rose 0.3, trading just shy of its highest level since Feb 2022 hit a day earlier. It was kept in positive territory by European banking stocks that gained 1.4 ahead of results from U.S. big beasts Goldman Sachs and Bank of America later in the day.

A combination of cheap valuations, signs that China39;s reopening is boosting European firms, a weak dollar and softening inflation have supported European shares in recent months.

U.S. SP 500 futures rose 0.3.

China39;s economy grew 4.5 yearonyear for the first quarter, eclipsing the expectations of most economists, data released on Tuesday showed.

That helped China39;s yuan, the Chinaexposed Australian and New Zealand currencies , and onshore Chinese blue chip stocks to strengthen, but the patchiness of the recovery meant gains were not universal. Hong Kong and Australian share benchmarks both fell.

Separate data on Chinese activity, also released on Tuesday, showed factory output speeding up but missing expectations while fixed asset investment growth unexpectedly slowed.

The headline number is a positive surprise and overall it39;s a good set of numbers, albeit uneven, and that is reflected in the markets39; response,…