European stocks rise; FTSE 100 poised for best winning streak in over 5 years

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was 0.4% higher at 9:50 a.m. in London, putting the blue chip index on track for its eleventh straight session in the green.

Gains at the Monday close would extend its best winning run since December 2019, when the index also closed higher for eleven sessions in a row.

The more domestic-oriented FTSE 250 has closed higher for the last three sessions, and was last up 0.48% on Monday.

— Jenni Reid

Deliveroo shares shot up over 16%, hitting their highest level since January 2022, after the food delivery firm suspended a share buyback following a $3.6 billion offer from U.S. firm DoorDash.

“The Company announces that further to its announcement on 25 April 2025 that the Company had received an indicative proposal from DoorDash, Inc regarding a possible cash offer for the entire issued ordinary share capital of the Company, the Company has suspended with immediate effect, the £100 million Buyback Programme that was announced on 18 March 2025,” Deliveroo said in a statement.

 “Any recommencement of the Buyback Programme will be announced to the market.”

By 8:17 a.m. London time, the shares were 16.58% higher.

— Katrina Bishop

Shares of Traton, the truck- and bus-maker majority owned by Germany’s Volkswagen, popped 4.3% in morning deals after the company reported lower quarterly sales but a growing order book.

Traton’s sales revenue in the first quarter declined 10% year on year to 646 million euros ($732.8 million), while incoming orders rose 12% to 74,300 vehicles.

Truck sales in the U.S. fell, which it attributed to “cautious buyers in an uncertain economic environment.”

The company said it “got off to a slow start to 2025, yet expects an improved business performance in the second half of the year due to a renewed increase in incoming orders.” It also reaffirmed its full-year outlook.

Analysts at Citi said in a note that with most figures having been pre-released, orders stood out positively and were stronger in Europe than reported by Volvo last week.

— Jenni Reid

Europe’s Stoxx 600 index opened 0.5% higher on Monday, continuing momentum from the last two weeks.

France’s CAC 40 jumped 0.54%, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX were 0.4% and 0.3% higher, respectively.

— Jenni Reid

Italian lender Mediobanca on Monday made a public 6.3 billion euro ($7.17 billion) offer to buy domestic peer Banca Generali as it seeks to boost its wealth management operations.

Mediobanca, itself the takeover target of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena amid a broader wave of attempted consolidation among Italian lenders, seeks to pay for the purchase by swapping its shares of Italian insurer Assicurazione Generali, the parent of Banca Generali with a 50.17% holding.

The proposal sets an exchange ratio of 1.7 Assicurazioni Generali shares, ex-dividend, for each Banca Generali share, based on the prices of April 25. The bid implies an offer price of 54.17 euro per share, or a roughly 11% premium from Mediobanca’s latest close.

The deal, which would generate 300 million euros in synergies, will create “a market leader, ranking second in Italy by assets (TFAs of €210bn) and distribution network (approx. 3,700 professionals),” Mediobanca said.

Typically a rarity in the languishing European banking sector, hostile takeovers have taken Italy’s lenders by storm, with UniCredit, Monte dei Paschi and now Mediobanca launching consolidation offers domestically and abroad since the second half of last year.

It comes as European banks struggle to keep pace with their transatlantic peers, with analysts pointing to mergers as a potential avenue to gain footing.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Airbus on Monday announced it had finalized a deal to take on a batch of assets from struggling U.S. supplier Spirit AeroSystems, largely related to European production of its own commercial aircraft.

The Toulouse, France-based planemaker last year agreed to take on parts of Spirit’s operations, while the wider company is being reintegrated into former parent company Boeing in a $4.7 billion stock deal.

Airbus will take ownership of sites in Kinston, North Carolina, in St. Nazaire, France and in Casablanca, Morocco, which make parts of its A350, A321 and A220 aircraft.

It will also take over production of A220 pylons in Wichita, Kansas, A220 wings in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and wing components for A320s and A350s in Prestwick, Scotland.

Spirit’s Europe-focused operations are currently loss-making, according to Reuters.

Airbus will be compensated with $439 million by Spirit subject to adjustments, the company said, while Airbus has entered into a memorandum of agreement to provide Spirit with $200 million in non-interest bearing lines of credit.

— Jenni Reid

European markets are expected to start the new trading week in positive territory on Monday.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 115 points higher at 8,430, Germany’s DAX up 26 points at 22,266, France’s CAC 16 points higher at 7,553 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 77 points higher at 36,955, according to data from IG.

Earnings are due from Porsche, Schneider Electric and Deutsche Boerse. Data releases include the latest French and Spanish unemployment figures.

— Holly Ellyatt