Europe starts in green on back of US jobs report
Investors boosted the value of stocks in Europe at the opening bell on Monday, led by utilities and technology. Germany's E.ON SE agreed to give RWE AG a 16.67% stake and get 76.8% in Innogy SE in return, and to offer minority shareholders in the renewables, power network and retail electricity business €40 per share, valuing it at €22 billion. RWE would also pay €1.5 billion in cash. The upbeat sentiment has held since the previous day, when official statistics showed a robust increase in nonfarm employment in the United States.
The FTSE 100 index started 0.36% higher. GKN, which is aiming to sell a minority stake in its automotive division to United States–based Dana, jumped 2.64% and landed at the top of the chart after Melrose increased its counteroffer to £8.1 billion. The CAC 40 strengthened 0.47% in Paris, led by Veolia and Engie's 1.82% and 1.56% in positive territory, respectively.
The DAX jumped 0.86%. RWE leaped 11.36% and E.ON was the second-best performer, spiking of 5.5%. Innogy, which announced quarterly earnings before the bell, soared 15.73%.
The euro was 0.2% in the green, buying $1.23313 at 9:13 am CET, and flat at £0.88884. The pound advanced 0.19% to $1.3873. Gold was just 0.1% down at $1,322.2 per ounce.