Bayer soars on report co proposes $8 billion Roundup settlement

Bayer shares soared as much as 11% on Friday on a Bloomberg report that the German company has proposed to pay $8 billion to settle more than 18,000 U.S. lawsuits on its glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup case. The stock was on track for its best single-day gain in a decade as traders said the settlement could remove an "overhang" on Bayer shares.

Bayer shares have lost more than a third, or roughly 30 billion euros ($33.56 billion), in market value since August last year, when a California jury in the first such lawsuit found that Monsanto should have warned of the alleged cancer risks. A Bayer spokesman declined to comment.

At 0813 GMT, the shares were up 8.7% at 68.5 euros, the top gainer on Germany's blue-chip DAX 30 index. ($1 = 0.8941 euros)