Europe: Shares up, RSA and Melrose surge on M&A news

[LONDON] European shares bounced in early trading on Tuesday after falling in the previous five sessions, with some strong company results and mergers and acquisitions news supporting the market.

RSA Insurance Group surged 12.9 per cent after Zurich Insurance said it was weighing up a bid for the British group with a market capitalisation of 4.4 billion pounds (S$9.4 billion).

Engineering turnaround specialist Melrose jumped 15 per cent after saying it would sell its Elster business to Honeywell International for 3.3 billion pounds (S$7.03 billion) in cash.

Shares in Kering rose 5.6 per cent, after Gucci, the flagship brand of the French luxury and sportswear group, posted a 4.6 per cent rise in underlying second-quarter sales, marking a much sooner than expected rebound under its new creative and management duo.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was 0.4 per cent higher at 1,536.12 points by 0712 GMT after hitting a two-week low in the previous session.

REUTERS