European stocks rise on AstraZeneca merger battle

European stocks rose on Monday with the pharmaceuticals sector and sterling given a shot in the arm by news of US giant Pfizer's $100-billion merger offer for British rival AstraZeneca. Drugmakers were lifted also by impressive earnings from Germany's Bayer, and upbeat news from France's Sanofi. London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of leading companies advanced 0.25 percent to stand at 6,702.37 points in midday trade. Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 0.69 percent to 9,466.17 points and in Paris the CAC 40 added 0.44 percent to 4,462.79 compared with Friday's closing levels. Pfizer declared on Monday that it wants a blockbuster merger with AstraZeneca to fuel research in cancer, revealing that an informal approach worth almost $100 billion (72 billion euros) had been rejected, according to AFP.