January 11 2010, 10:45PM LONDON, Jan 11 AFP - European stock markets rallied Monday, with London hitting the highest level since September 2008 when the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers signalled the start of the economic crisis. London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of leading shares hit 5,600.48 points in early trading -- the highest level for 16 months -- in the wake of robust Chinese economic data, analysts said. After its brief jump above 5,600, the FTSE 100 settled back to stand at 5,567.77 points in late morning deals, a rise of 0.61 per cent compared with Friday's closing level. Approaching the half-way mark elsewhere in Europe, Frankfurt's DAX 30 climbed 0.56 per cent to 6,071.71 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.74 per cent to 4,075.00. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of top eurozone shares increased by 0.55 per cent in value to reach 3,034.56 points. Global markets on Monday digested weekend data revealing that China had overtaken Germany as the world's biggest exporter. "The numbers from China showed a huge boost both in exports and imports and the immediate effect has been to push virtually every index to new highs," said Simon Denham, head of Capital Spreads trading group. China's exports surged 17.7 per cent in December to snap a 13-month falling streak, the government said on Sunday, cementing the Asian power's new status as the world's biggest exporter. Exports hit $US130.7 billion ($A140.7 billion) during the month as global trade perked up, bringing China's full-year export figure to $US1.20 trillion ($A1.29 trillion), according to figures from the General Administration of Customs. Data out of Germany last week showed that China overtook Europe's biggest economy in November to become the world's top exporting nation. "Excitement out of the Far East as China's economic numbers give rise to hopes that the 'US effect', which has dominated the last 60 years might be replaced/augmented, by the dominance of the Asiatic regions," said Denham. "For most of my working life the phrase that 'when America sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold' has been a truism in relation to growth prospects. "While China has many years to go before gaining such hegemony over the world economy it is actually comforting to know that there is another powerhouse waiting in the wings to join the US in driving global wealth forward," added the analyst. The London stock market meanwhile extended a rally stretching back since March 2009, when the FTSE 100 struck a six-year low at around the 3,500-points mark. The index has jumped by 60 per cent since the March lows and rose by 22 per cent in 2009 as a whole.

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