Europe midday: Shares shrug off Covid worries as Dialog Semi deal pleases
European shares maintained momentum at lunchtime, boosted by a €4.9bn offer for Dialog Semiconductor and continuing optimism over the US Covid stimulus package successfully navigating Congress.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.52% with all major Continental bourses higher. Italy’s FTSE MIB outperformed with a 1.5% rise as Mario Draghi secured initial support from two key parties in his efforts to form a unity government.
London stocks had extended gains as coronavirus cases declined, with the FTSE 100 up 1.12%.
Investors were also monitoring the $1.9trln Covid-19 US aid package, which was expected to be passed by lawmakers as soon as this month.
They had also appeared to shrugged off the spread of various covid variants and concerns over the efficacy of AstraZeneca's vaccine against a South African strain of the virus.
In equity news, shares in German computer chip maker Dialog Semiconductor soared 16% after it agreed a takeover by Japan’s Renesas Electronics Corp.
Italian banks were higher on hopes of political stability, with UniCredit and Banco BPM up more than 4%.
Rolls-Royce was under pressure on news it is temporarily closing its jet engine factories for two weeks this summer as it moves to save cash amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Experian was in the red after the credit-checking firm said it is carrying out a forensic investigation following media reports of a data breach involving its Serasa business in Brazil, but that there is no evidence its technology systems have been compromised.