Author: Elena Todorova
123jump.com
Last Update: 2:08 PM EDT July 23 2007

European stock markets closed higher on Monday, driven by merger deals in the financial sector with British banking giant Barclays and insurer Friends Provident in the spotlight. Barclays advanced 3% after it agreed to sell a 19% stake to China Development Bank and Singapore''s Temasek Holdings in order to fund an improved bid of 67.5 billion euros for Dutch bank ABN Amro. Germany advanced 0.9%, France also added 0.9%, and the U.K. gained 0.6%.