Investing.com - European stocks opened sharply higher on Monday, amid new hopes for a Greek debt deal as European leaders prepared to hold last ditch talks to prevent Athens from defaulting.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 jumped 2.72%, France’s CAC 40 surged 2.66%, while Germany’s DAX 30 rallied 2.67%.
Greece submitted a new package of economic reforms on Sunday night, indicating that it is prepared to make concessions to break a deadlock in order to unlock €7.2 billion in funds.
Greece’s existing bailout is set to expire at the end of this month, when it must also repay €1.6 billion to the International Monetary Fund. A default by Greece could trigger the country’s exit from the euro zone.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was to hold talks with representatives from the IMF, the European Central Bank and the eurogroup of finance ministers later in the day, ahead of an emergency summit by European Union leaders.
If no deal is reached Greece could need to impose capital controls on Tuesday to stem a mounting crisis in the banking sector after bank withdrawals surpassed a billion euros a day late last week.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) surged 2.72% and 2%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) advanced 2% and 2.40%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) soared 2.56% and 2.92% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) climbed 2.18% and 2.58%.
Elsewhere, Bouygues (PARIS:BOUY) SA skyrocketed 14.40% after Altice SA (AMS:ATCE) said its cable and wireless unit has made an offer to buy France’s third-largest mobile-phone company from Bouygues. Altice SA shares jumped 13.16% following the news.
In London, FTSE 100 advanced 1.29%, led by Sky Plc (LONDON:SKYB), whose shares surged 4.29% amid reports the Murdoch family is considering a new takeover bid for the U.K. company after turning down two offers from Vodafone Group (LONDON:VOD) Plc and Vivendi (PARIS:VIV) SA.
Severn Trent Plc (LONDON:SVT) added to gains, with shares up 2.48% amid talk Borealis is considering a bid for the U.K. water utility.
Financial stocks were also broadly higher, as Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) gained 0.42% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) climbed 0.92%, while HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) advanced 0.98% and Barclays (LONDON:BARC) jumped 1.38%.
In the mining sector, stocks were also on the upside. Shares in Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) edged up 0.14% and Anglo American (LONDON:AAL) gained 0.72%, while Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) and Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) climbed 0.77% and 0.94% respectively.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.73% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.77% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.75% climb.