(For a live blog on European stocks, type LIVE/ in an Eikon
news window)
* FTSE 100 down 0.7%, FTSE 250 down 0.5%
June 8 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 index opened lower on
Monday, hurt by losses in AstraZeneca after a report that the
drugmaker approached Gilead Sciences for a potential merger and
a warning from an industry body about surging corporate debt.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 .FTSE was down 0.7%, as AstraZeneca
AZN.L fell 1.8% following a Bloomberg News report on Sunday of
a possible merger with U.S. rival Gilead GILD.O to form one
the world's largest drug companies. Finance industry body TheCityUK said over the weekend that
about a third of the debt being taken on by British companies
under the government's emergency coronavirus lending plans could
be unsustainable, raising the need for fresh capital from new
investors. The mid-cap FTSE 250 .FTMC fell 0.5%, while oil and gas
stocks .FTNMX0530 jumped 2.9%, supported by higher crude
prices.