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Oct 2 Reuters European stocks started the final quarter of the year with mild gains as the United States avoided a federal government shutdown, though data showed factory activity in the euro zone remained in a broadbased downturn.

The panEuropean STOXX 600 index edged up 0.2 on Monday, with real estate and mining sectors leading morning gains.

Meanwhile, Wall Street futures climbed in relief after the U.S. Congress passed a stopgap funding bill late on Saturday, avoiding the federal government39;s fourth partial shutdown in a decade.

With a U.S. government shutdown averted for now, it has brought a measure of relief, said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Wall Street is expected to cling onto more positive vibes with the agreement reached in Washington. But the little dose of optimism after Friday39;s inflation data is set to fade away.

Meanwhile, euro zone manufacturing activity remained mired in a deep and broadbased downturn in September, according to a survey which showed that demand kept shrinking at a pace rarely surpassed since the data was first collected in 1997.

HCOB39;s final euro zone manufacturing Purchasing Managers39; Index PMI, compiled by SP Global, dipped to 43.4 in September from August39;s 43.5, matching a preliminary estimate.

The benchmark STOXX 600 marked its first…