Telecoms, BHP Group lift UK's FTSE 100 on M&A optimism

BT Group rose 2.8% and Vodafone was up 2.1%, benefiting from a broad rally in the sector after U.S. fund KKR presented a non-binding proposal to buy Italy's Telecom Italia. The commodity-heavy FTSE 100 index was up 0.5%, with miner BHP Group inching up on its merger with Woodside Petroleum Ltd to create a global energy company.

UK's FTSE 100 rose on Monday, as dealmaking activity in the European telecoms sector boosted shares in Vodafone and BT Group, while miner BHP gained after the merger of its petroleum arm with Woodside. BT Group rose 2.8% and Vodafone was up 2.1%, benefiting from a broad rally in the sector after U.S. fund KKR presented a non-binding proposal to buy Italy's Telecom Italia.

The commodity-heavy FTSE 100 index was up 0.5%, with miner BHP Group inching upon its merger with Woodside Petroleum Ltd to create a global energy company. The domestically focussed mid-cap index advanced 0.3%, with shares of Diploma Plc jumping 5.6% on reporting a surge in full-year adjusted operating profit.

Marks and Spencer gained 3.1% after a media report that New York-based private equity giant Apollo Global Management is mulling a buyout of the company.

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