New Year, new decade - new gains on the Dax.

Frankfurt's main stock index celebrated the first trading day of 2020 with style on Thursday (January 2) - a rise there of not far off a per cent followed through on solid gains in Asia and set the tone for bourses across Europe - as markets digested a raft of positives.

First up: China's central bank.

Wednesday's (January 1) policy easing frees up over 100 billion dollars of extra cash to boost the economy.

Second: the China/US trade war.

Donald Trump's tweet on Tuesday (December 31) that a long-awaited Phase 1 trade pact is to be signed within weeks is still resonating, says Oddo Seydler head of trading, Oliver Roth.

(SOUNDBITE) (German) ODDO SEYDLER HEAD OF SPECIALIST FLOOR TRADING, OLIVER ROTH, SAYING:

"Donald Trump is talking about 'Phase 2' and the negotiation with the Chinese is ongoing. These are the significant topics when it comes to economy and monetary policy."

Among the stock headliners: Airbus gained over three per cent to enjoy its best day in three months.

Sources tell Reuters the planemaker delivered a forecast-beating 863 aircraft last year - putting it ahead in the race against Boeing for the first time since 2011.

But with the new year come some old issues.

Manufacturing is still struggling across many developed economies, according to the final PMI surveys for December.

The downturn in the euro zone actually deepened, they suggest.

With an end-of-January deadline for Brexit now fast approaching Britain's latest PMI shows factory output there fell at the fastest rate since 2012.