Europe open: Shares up as Sampo bid for Topdanmark in focus

(Sharecast News) - European shares opened higher on Monday as investors digested mixed economic data from China and a $4.7bn bid for Topdanmark from Finnish insurer Sampo. The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.34% to 512.78 in early deals. France's CAC 40 was also higher, up 0.61% to 7,547 as campaigning began in the national election called at short notice by President Emmanuel Macron in response to the rise of far-right parties in recent European Parliament elections.

In China, May industrial output came in lower than expected, while the country's troubled property sector showed no signs of rebounding.

Retail sales beat forecasts thanks to a holiday boost.

"Investors are largely shrugging off data from China showing ongoing struggles for the economy. Some of the risk-off sentiment which spread sparked by worries about the far-right gaining legislative power in France has eased off," said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.

"Although the European Central Bank does not look like it'll be easily propelled into buying French government debt, hopes have risen slightly that spending pledged by the National Rally party would in practice be curtailed in a hung parliament scenario."

"Ten-year French government bond yields edged up slightly to 3.15% but are significantly down on the level they shot up to a week ago of 3.24%."

In equity news, Sampo, which already owns 48.5% of the Danish insurer, said its offer represented a 27% premium per Topdanmark share based on Friday's closing price, the companies said in a joint statement. Sampo shares were down 2.55% on the news, while Topdamark surged more than a fifth.

"By combining the businesses in a fully integrated Nordic operating platform, we can unlock growth and attractive synergies that will strengthen our position as a leading Danish P&C insurer," said Sampo chief executive Torbjorn Magnusson.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com