Europe stocks end high, U.S. gains

FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters) -- European equities closed up on Monday, boosted by gains in U.S. stocks and a 3 percent jump in Barclays, which raised its bid for takeover target ABN AMRO, helped by investments from China and Singapore.

The UK bank also unveiled strong first-half results. ABN AMRO, which is also being courted by a consortium of banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland, rose 0.7 percent.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index finished 0.6 percent stronger at a provisional 1,609.1, the day's high. The Dow was up 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq added 0.6 pct on takeover deals and strong earnings. The European index is up about 8 percent so far this year.

"You have to begin to say that some deals are looking a bit over the top, but I suppose indicative of the strength of balance sheets and the cost of financing being so low," said Andrea Williams, head of European equities at Royal London Asset Management.

In a busy day for takeovers, shares in TomTom, the world's biggest maker of car navigation devices, rallied 11 percent after it announced plans to buy its main map supplier, Tele Atlas, whose shares jumped 31 percent.

Britain's Resolution and Friends Provident said they were in advanced merger talks to create an insurance group worth almost 9 billion pounds, rekindling speculation of consolidation across the sector. Resolution rose 1.1 percent and Friends Provident rallied 7.8 percent. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

All About Asia-Pacific Markets • European Markets • U.S. Markets