European stocks posted strong gains on Monday on optimism that US President Donald Trump's tax reform will be passed later this week and a raft of merger and acquisition news.
The vote on the proposal, which includes lowering the US corporate tax rate along with other changes, is scheduled for Tuesday in the Senate and President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill by the end of the week, according to press reports.
Equities were "buoyed by fresh optimism that President Trump will indeed get through the much-anticipated tax reform before year-end and yet more M&A, corporate transactions," Michael van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets in London, said by e-mail.
In economic news, the annual inflation rate in the Eurozone rose to 1.5% in November from 1.4% in October, according to data published by Eurostat, the statistics office of the European Union.
Inflation was the slowest in Cyprus at 0.2%, Ireland at 0.5% and Finland at 0.9%, while the euro countries with the fastest price increases were Estonia at 4.5% and Lithuania at 4.2%, Eurostat said.
In equities, German residential real estate company Vonovia gained 1.3% after offering to acquire Austrian property company Buwog in a cash offer, which values Buwog at around 5.2 billion euros ($6.13 billion). Buwog soared 17% in Vienna.
Deutsche Bank gained 3.4% and engineering company Siemens added 2.4%.
In Paris, defense technology manufacturer Thales' shares gained 8.2% after Dutch chipmaker Gemalto accepted its 4.8 billion euro ($5.7 bln) takeover offer aimed at creating a leading digital security firm. Gemalto rose 5.6% on Monday in Amsterdam.
On the CAC 40 in Paris, luxury retailers LVMH and Kering, the owner of the Gucci brand, rose 3.6% and 2.3%, respectively.
In London, on the FTSE 100, aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce gained 3% and basic resource firm Anglo American rose 5%. UK budget airline Easyjet was down 3.0% even as it said it acquired part of Air Berlin operations at Tegel airport and the deal will result in EasyJet operating 25 aircraft from that hub.
The FTSE 100 closed up 0.62%, while the DAX gained 1.59% and the CAC 40 added 1.33%.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
