Europe open: Asia rebound, Meggitt deal push Stoxx to record highs

European stocks hit new highs on Monday following as Asian shares rebounded overnight and UK engineer Meggitt soared on a £6.3bn US buyout.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.79% in early trade, having hit an all-time high of 465.84 points. Investors were eying manufacturing PMIs for July which are expected to show slowdowns in France, Spain and Italy.

British aero-engineer Meggitt was the standout gainer, soaring 59.2% after US industrial firm Parker-Hannifin said it would buy UK rival in a deal that values it at £6.3bn.

HSBC gained 1.4% after Europe’s biggest bank beat forecasts for first-half pretax profit and reinstated dividend payments.

French insurer Axa rose after it posted a 180% surge in first-half net income, while bigger rival Allianz fell after US regulators started a probe relating to Allianz Global Investors’ Structured Alpha Funds.