UPDATE 2-European shares follow Wall Street higher on recovery hopes

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* Tech rally on Wall Street spreads to Europe
* Marks & Spencer rises on turnaround plan
* AstraZeneca gains after U.S. FDA nod for Lynparza

(Updates to market close)
By Sruthi Shankar
May 20 (Reuters) - European shares swung higher on Wednesday
as hopes of a rebound from a coronavirus-led economic slump
charged Wall Street and technology stocks rose on both sides of
the Atlantic.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX finished 1% higher after
falling as much as 0.8% at the open. The euro zone's leading
stocks index .STOXX50E gained 1.4%.
An upbeat start for Wall Street after record gains for
Facebook FB.O and Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O sent European stocks
to their strongest close in three weeks. .N
Technology stocks .SX8P led the European gains with a 2.2%
jump, while chemicals .SX4P and oil & gas .SXEP rose 1.7%
each, helping reverse early losses on recurrent doubts over a
potential coronavirus vaccine.
"This buoyant start gave a helping hand to the European
indices, which had initially been flagging," wrote Connor
Campbell, a financial analyst at SpreadEx.
Another boost to the STOXX 600 was AstraZeneca Plc AZN.L ,
which gained 2.4% after U.S. regulators approved Merck Inc's
MRK.N and its Lynparza as a prostate cancer treatment.
British retailer Marks & Spencer MKS.L jumped 10.8% after
saying it would accelerate its latest turnaround programme.
A stock market recovery from March lows has stalled, with
the STOXX 600 up 0.8% this month after a 6% jump in April.
"Investors are playing a waiting game," said Edmund Shing,
global head of equity derivatives strategy at BNP Paribas. "We
want to see how the exit from lockdowns proceeds and see how
quickly each economy picks up."
European markets have cheered a Franco-German proposal for a
500 billion-euro Recovery Fund that would bind all 27 European
Union states to raise debt jointly to offer grants to regions
hit hardest.
However, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Tuesday
a group of EU states will propose loans, not grants.
The world's biggest credit data company Experian Plc
EXPN.L gained 7.4% as it said its executive directors would
take a 25% salary cut for six months and forecast first-quarter
organic revenue to decline by 5% to 10%. German business software group SAP SAPG.DE rose 2% after a
company executive said it expects to stick to its dividend
policy.