Europe open: Stoxx up with UniCredit bid for BPM in focus

European shares opened higher on Monday, extending gains from Friday, with bank stocks in focus after Italy’s UniCredit offered to buy rival Banco BPM for around €10bn.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.33% in early deals at 510 points.

Banco BPM shares gained on the news, while UniCredit stock fell around 4.2%.

Shares in Commerzbank fell more than 6% after UniCredit said that its offer for Banco BPM was separate from its plans to buy the German lender and that any bid for it would come after Banco BPM had been integrated.

Elsewhere in equities, shares in B&Q owner Kingfisher slumped as the DIY chain operator nudged down the midpoint of its annual profit guidance after a mixed third quarter, in which group like-for-like sales edged lower.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com