Reply #8: Europe follows Asia up on strong results, more m&a

[EuroObserver]

Swiss SMI up 0.40% at 7947.44 in Zurich 09:17:39 CET
CAC 40 opens up 0.7% at 5,025.7 in Paris
Xetra Dax 30 opens up 0.5% at 5,750.6 in Frankfurt
FTSE 100 opens up 0.5% at 5,885.1 in London

LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - European stocks rose on Monday, tracking gains in Asian markets, and as oil prices dipped, with Vodafone <VOD.L> boosting telecoms for the second session in a row.

Europe's biggest bank HSBC Holdings <HSBA.L> advanced 2 percent after it reported pretax profit of $21 billion, above average analysts' forecast and a record profit for a UK bank. Vodafone rallied 3 percent, extending Friday's 8-percent surge, as newspapers reported the mobile phone company plans to pay shareholders a 5 billion pound special dividend following any sale of a stake in its Japanese unit.

By 0820 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> was 0.6 percent stronger at 1,350.6 points, above a two-week low of 1,335.1 struck last Friday.
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"The reporting earnings season is bringing increasingly more positive than negative surprises," Charles Dautresme, a strategist at S&P Equity research said in a note.

The top blue-chip gainer was Generali <GASI.MI>, up 4 percent after the Italian insurer beats its own 2005 targets and said it will buy out minorities in its German, Austrian and Swiss units. Among other standouts, shares in BOC <BOC.L> rose 0.7 percent to 1,555 pence after German industrial gases and forklift group Linde <LING.DE> said it will offer 1,600 pence per share in cash to acquire its UK rival. Shares in Linde rallied 3 percent. ...more...

LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 <.FTSE> index hit 5,900 points for the first time since June 2001 on Monday as hopes of a special dividend boosted mobile phone giant Vodafone <VOD.L> and as takeover talk lifted other telecoms stocks.

BT Group <BT.L> added 3.2 percent and Cable & Wireless <CW.L> rose 0.7 percent on bid speculation. Sector consolidation hopes among telecoms generally were also helped after AT&T <T.N> said it would buy BellSouth <BLS.N> for $67 billion.

The FTSE 100 <.FTSE> index was up 34.9 points at 5,893.6 points by 0833 GMT, just under a session high of 5,900 points. ...more...