(For a live blog on European stocks, type LIVE/ in an Eikon
news window)
Sept 14 (Reuters) - European stocks kicked off the week on a
positive note, as hopes of a coronavirus vaccine and a flurry of
global M&A activity overshadowed worries about a disorderly
Brexit.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.7% by 0711
GMT on Monday, hitting its highest level in over a week, while
the German .GDAXI and French .FCHI indexes clocked similar
gains.
News over the weekend that AstraZeneca AZN.L had resumed
clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine after being suspended
last week sparked a wave of buying across global stocks. The
British drugmaker's shares AZN.L rose 0.5%. Meanwhile, U.S. chipmaker Nvidia Corp NVDA.O said it would
buy UK-based chip designer Arm from Japan's SoftBank Group
9984.T for as much as $40 billion in a deal set to reshape the
global semiconductor landscape, spurring a 1% gain in Europe's
tech sector .SX8P . Frankfurt-listed shares of Immunomedics IMMU.O IMMU.F
shot up 109.7% on news Gilead Sciences GILD.O will acquire the
U.S. biopharmaceutical company for $21 billion. However, adding to fears of a messy departure for Britain
from the European Union, car industries from both sides warned
that failure to secure a free trade agreement would cost the
sector 110 billion euros ($130 billion) in lost trade over the
next five years.