Europe: Shares head for longest winning streak in three years

[LONDON] European stocks edged higher in early trading on Friday, set to seal their longest winning streak in over three years as fresh deal-making stole the spotlight from the tail-end of a busy earnings season.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.1 per cent by 0724 GMT, set for its seventh straight week of gains - its longest winning streak since March 2015. Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE 100 were both flat in percentage terms.

Though moves at the index level were muted, M&A news livened up early trading. Shares in Sika soared nearly 11 per cent to the top of the STOXX after the Swiss chemicals company reached an agreement with French building materials firm Saint-Gobain to end a long-standing legal dispute.

Saint-Gobain, whose shares rose 2.2 per cent, is to take a large stake in Sika, but not majority control.

Shares in Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) were also big movers, up nearly 9 per cent, after US-based private equity firm Silver Lake Management Company agreed to acquire ZPG , the owner of British property websites Zoopla and PrimeLocation, for £2.2 billion (S$3.98 billion).

REUTERS