European shares closed higher on Monday, with earnings news from the U.S. and merger and acquisition activity helping bourses post healthy gains.
European markets
US earnings boost bourses
The pan-European Eurofirst 300 Index finished provisionally higher by 0.9 percent at 1,364.47 points, boosted by U.S. stocks which climbed in the morning session on Monday. The bounced back from its largest weekly hit in three months, as investors welcomed better-than-projected earnings from Citigroup and a rise in corporate takeovers.
Spain's IBEX index closed up around 0.6 percent, with Italy's FTSE MIB seeing gains of around 0.5 percent.
Britain's FTSE 100 ended the day up 0.8 percent, with Shire finishing around 1.3 percent higher. The London-listed drugmaker got a boost after it announced it was close to recommending a new £31 billion ($53 billion) takeover offer from U.S. firm AbbVie.
On the data front, industrial production figures for the euro zone posted a disappointing slump for May. EU statistics showed output fell 1.1 percent from the month before which was the largest month-month drop since September 2012.
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Investors were also gearing up for a busy week of second-quarter corporate earnings, with major U.S. banks and FTSE-listed miners slated to report this week.
Farnborough kicks off
Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli said it had agreed to acquire family-owned U.S. candy business Russell Stover, making it the No. 3 chocolate manufacturer in North America. The company's CEO, Ernst Tanner, told CNBC that the deal was an "unique opportunity" and was worth in excess of $1 billion. Shares of the company had risen by 2.7 percent by the end of Monday's session.
Read MoreSwiss chocolate maker Lindt agrees to buy Russell Stover
European planemaker Airbus kicked off the Farnborough Airshow with confirmation it would sell revamped versions of its A330 jets powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, offering 14 percent fuel savings. Shares in the company finished the session flat.
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Meanwhile, SEB reported a bigger-than-expected rise in second-quarter operating profit, benefiting from the boost in corporate confidence that has resulted in more mergers and initial public offerings. Shares of the Swedish financial firm finished round 1 percent higher on Monday.
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