Oil Companies, Italian Banks lead European Stocks Surge

European shares sored to heights on Monday after France's BNP Paribas launched a $10.8-billion takeover bid for Italy's sixth biggest bank BNL, and as energy stocks gained on surging oil prices.

Statoil ASA and Repsol YPF SA and other energy producers climbed as mounting tension over Iran's nuclear program drove oil prices almost 2 percent higher. Metal producers such as BHP Billiton advanced as copper reached a record in China.

The Stoxx 600 added 0.3 percent to 322.69 at 8:29 a.m. in London. The Stoxx 50 also gained 0.3 percent, and the Euro Stoxx 50, a benchmark for the 12 countries using the euro, advanced 0.5 percent.

BBVA shares were down 0.7 percent, while BNP Paribas was down 1.6 percent and BNL was down 2.6 percent.

Analysts expect BNP's bid to encourage consolidation among Italian banks. Shares in insurer Unipol, which agreed to sell its 15 percent stake in BNL to BNP for 1.3 billion euros, leapt 5.5 percent.

Across Europe, London's FTSE 100 was 0.3 percent higher, while Paris's CAC 40 was up 0.4 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX up 0.6 percent.

Despite Tehran's past assurances that it will not use oil as a political weapon, dealers fear that deteriorating relations and intensified rhetoric on both sides could lead to a disruption in supplies from the world's fourth-largest exporter.

Italy's fourth-largest bank, Capitalia, gained 3.7 percent to 5.52 euros. Banca Intesa SpA, the nation's second-largest, climbed 2.7 percent to 4.86 euros.

BNP Paribas bid about 9 billion euros ($10.8 billion) for Nazionale del Lavoro after Italy's central bank rejected a bid for the Rome-based lender by Unipol SpA.

"There is room for other acquisitions in Italy," said Alessandro Nilo, an analyst at Credito Emiliano SpA in Reggio Emilia, Italy. "Capitalia is one of the possible takeover targets."