Telecoms stocks boosted European bourses on Wednesday following Liberty Global's takeover offer for Sunrise Communications, while London's FTSE 100 gained on bets of domestic stimulus after a collapse in quarterly economic output.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.2 per cent, gaining for a fourth straight session. Sunrise Communications surged 26.8 per cent after Liberty Global launched a takeover offer for the Swiss telecoms group in a deal valued at 6.8 billion Swiss francs ($7.40 billion).
Wall Street indexes fell overnight on growing uncertainty about a stalemate in Washington over a fiscal stimulus deal, while data showed Britain’s economy shrank by a record 20.4 per cent between April and June, the largest contraction reported by any major economy so far.
London-listed shares of European food-ordering firm Just Eat also rose 3.3 per cent after reporting higher revenue and underlying profit for the first half of 2020.
British online fashion retailer ASOS jumped 9.9 per cent as it forecast full-year sales and profit significantly ahead of market expectations. - Reuters
