Europe: M&A frenzy, earnings power stocks to new highs

[BENGALURU] European stocks scaled fresh peaks on Monday following a clutch of deals and strong results from Europe's biggest bank HSBC, while sentiment was also supported by a rebound in Asian stocks.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.8 per cent to hit an all-time high of 465 points in early trading.

British aero-engineer Meggitt soared 59.7 per cent to record a life high after US industrial firm Parker-Hannifin said it would buy UK rival in a deal that values it at £6.30 billion (S$11.87 billion).

UK's midcap index jumped 1.5 per cent, while the blue-chip index added 1 per cent.

Asia-focussed lender HSBC gained 1.4 per cent after it beat forecasts for first-half pretax profit and reinstated dividend payments.

French insurer Axa was up 3.6 per cent after it posted a 180 per cent surge in first-half net income, while bigger rival Allianz fell 2.6 per cent after US regulators started a probe relating to Allianz Global Investors' Structured Alpha Funds.

REUTERS