Airline shares jump after Thomas Cook collapse

Airline and travel stocks soared in Europe on Monday (September 23).

Holiday firm TUI up over six percent in early trade, with EasyJet not far behind.

The gains were driven by hopes they'll pick up business following the collapse of Thomas Cook.

It went bust overnight, leaving hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded.

Airlines were one of the few positives for investors Monday though.

Benchmark indexes all sank after fresh signs of downturn in the euroe zone.

Flash purchasing managers indexes came in much worse than expected in Germany and France.

For the euro zone as a whole, the manufacturing index sank to 45.6.

That's far short of economist forecasts, and way below the fifty point level that divides contraction and expansion.

Germany's Dax index was down over 1.5 percent following the news.

France CAC not much better, with the FTSE also down in London.

Banks were the worst hit, with the eurozone banking index off over 2.5 percent.

Sectors seen as more sheltered - like utilities and food firms - fared better.