stocks, news, data and earnings

Shares in British media company ITV were up around 9.5% at around midday in London after Sky News suggested that prospective suitors were discussing bidding options for all or part of the company.

Sky News’ Mark Kleinman over the weekend reported that potential bidders had been in early-stage discussions about the possibility of teaming up to make an offer.

The report said that CVC Capital Partners, a European broadcaster (which reportedly is thought to be France’s Groupe TF1), were among those potentially exploring a bid. All3Media and Mediawan were reportedly potential suitors for the ITV Studios production arm.

When contacted by CNBC, ITV, CVC Capital Partners and Groupe TF1 declined to comment. All3Media and Mediawan did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

— Sophie Kiderlin

The pan-European Stoxx 600 hovered around the flatline just over three hours into trading on Monday after opening around 0.5% higher.

By 11:38 a.m. London time, the index was up 0.03%.

Sectors were mixed, with mining stocks adding around 1%, while retail stocks were down 1.2%.

Shares in home improvement retailer Kingfisher fell over 13% on Monday, making it the biggest loser on the pan-European Stoxx 600.

The company, whose brands include B&Q and Screwfix in the U.K. and Castorama and Brico Depot in France, said Monday that it was tightening its guidance for the current 2024/2025 year. Annual profit before tax is now expected to come in around £510 million ($641.6 million) to £540 million, compared to a previous forecast of £510 million to £550 million.

Kingfisher also said its third-quarter like-for-like sales were down 1.1%, citing a “weak market and consumer in the UK and France in October, impacted by uncertainty related to government budgets in both countries.”

Shares were down 13.5% at 11:01 a.m. London time.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Ifo’s business climate index for Germany fell to 85.7 points in November, the economic institute said Monday.

The index had increased in October, coming in at 86.5 points, after previously declining for fourth months straight.

Ifo said November’s pullback “was due primarily to the worse assessment of the current situation,” while expectations for the economy only fell slightly. “The German economy is floundering,” Ifo said.

Breaking it down by sector, the current business climate worsened in the manufacturing, service and construction sectors, and expectations for the coming months grew more sceptical or pessimistic in all three sectors.

The trade sector was the outlier, with the business climate index rising and expectations becoming less pessimistic — but sentiment “is still a long way off from being positive,” Ifo noted.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Barclays was fined £40 million ($50.9 million) by the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority “for its failure to disclose certain arrangements with Qatari entities in 2008,” the regulator said Monday.

“The action was based on findings which included that Barclays’ conduct in its October 2008 capital raising was reckless and lacked integrity,” the FCA said.

During the 2008-2009 financial crisis, Barclays scrambled to secure funding from overseas, including from Qatari investors, to avoid a state bailout.

Shares in Barclays were last up 1.75% at 9:14 a.m. London time.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Shares in Banco BPM rose over 5% at one point on Monday after fellow Italian lender UniCredit offered to buy the bank for roughly 10 billion euros ($10.5 billion).

Banco BPM and UniCredit are two of Italy’s largest lenders.

Shares in Banco BPM were last up 4.76% at 8:37 a.m. London time, while UniCredit shares were 2.91% lower.

UniCredit said the move to snap up Banco BPM was separate from its pursuit of Germany’s Commerzbank. Reuters also reported that UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel said that any bid for Commerzbank would come after the integration of Banco BPM.

Commerzbank shares were last down 5.93%.

— Sophie Kiderlin

European markets opened higher Monday, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index adding around 0.5% shortly after trading began.

Sectors broadly traded higher as household goods and autos stocks led gains, both adding around 1.3%. Healthcare and retail stocks, meanwhile, were the only sectors to pull back, dipping by around 0.2% and 0.1% respectively.

Regional bourses were higher, with France’s CAC 40 adding close to 1%, Germany’s DAX rising 0.7% and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 climbing 0.4%.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose Monday, with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 hitting fresh highs.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.28% to close at 8,417.6, hitting a new all-time closing high. The index also reached a new intraday high of 8,462.1 during the trading session.

On Monday, Singapore released its inflation figures for October. The country’s headline inflation rate fell to 1.4%, the lowest rate of inflation since March 2021.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 1.3% up, ending at 38,780.14, while the broad-based Topix rose 0.71% to 2,715.6.

In contrast, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.3% in its last hour of trade, while mainland China’s CSI 300 was down 0.46% to close at 3,848.09.

— Lim Hui Jie

French IT firm Atos said Monday that it had received a non-binding offer from France’s government for its advanced computing activities. The offer proposed enterprise value of 500 million euros ($523 million), Atos added.

Negotiations were underway with the target of having a share purchase agreement signed by May 31, the company said in a press release.

The French government had previously submitted a non-binding offer that also included Atos’ mission critical system and cybersecurity products as well as the advanced computing activities, Atos noted. It added that it was now looking to launch a formal sales process for its mission critical system and cybersecurity products businesses.

Atos has long faced financial difficulties including soaring debt, and is currently in the process of restructuring. The company holds several sensitive contracts in France, including with the country’s military.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Italian lender UniCredit on Monday offered to snap up its domestic rival Banco BPM for roughly 10 billion euros ($10.5 billion) in a move it says is separate from its pursuit of German bank Commerzbank.

The move would, if completed, merge two of Italy’s largest lenders. 

Read the full story here.

European markets are expected to open higher Monday.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 22 points higher at 8,290, Germany’s DAX up 127 points at 19,435, France’s CAC up 55 points at 7,305 and Italy’s FTSE MIB up 275 points at 33,912, according to data from IG.

Data releases include the Ifo business climate index in Germany. There are no major earnings releases.

— Holly Ellyatt

China on Monday kept its medium-term lending rate steady, as the country’s central bank seeks to stabilize the yuan which has come under pressure following Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election.

The People’s Bank of China kept the medium-term lending facility rate unchanged at 2.0% on 900 billion yuan ($124.26 billion) worth of one-year loans to some financial institutions, according to the bank’s official statement.

“It is a well-expected move, given that the market liquidity [has] remained ample,” said Bruce Pang, chief economist and head of Research, Greater China at JLL, citing PBOC’s move in October that injected 500 billion yuan into the banking system.

Read the full story here.

— Anniek Bao

As investors position their portfolios for 2025, wealth managers are advocating for a diversified approach with selective bets on undervalued sectors.

CNBC Pro spoke to Ollie Clark, deputy head of research at WH Ireland, and Mark Preskett, senior portfolio manager at Morningstar Wealth, about how investors with roughly $500,000 could look to allocate their portfolio.

One of them also suggested how investors could capitalize on President-elect Donald Trump’s policies.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

The sustainability theme faces an uncertain future under President-elect Donald Trump, but Morgan Stanley has named a number stocks with major upside.

The Wall Street bank identified its top overweight-rated stocks with over $2 billion in market cap and a revenue or capital expenditure exposure to sustainability themes.

Among its list of top stocks to buy are two renewable energy companies with over 60% upside potential.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner