European shares steady at open

European stocks were steady at the open on Monday, taking a breather after the previous session's losses, with Nutreco surging 13 per cent as SHV sweetened its takeover bid for the Dutch animal feed and Nutrition Company. At 0808 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.1 per cent at 1,346.70 points. Carlsberg gained 3.3 per cent after posting a third quarter operating profit before special items in line with the same quarter last year as a growing Asian market offset challenges in Russia, according to Reuters.