Global Stocks Gain as 'Merger Monday' Descends on Wall Street

Frankfurt (Apr 30)  Global stocks posted gains across the board Monday, with U.S. equity futures pointing to a positive open on Wall Street, as investors digested two multi-billion dollar mergers on both sides of the Atlantic and prepped for another busy week of earnings and economic data heading into a traditionally difficult month for financial markets.

Early indications from Wall Street futures suggest a positive start to the week after giving back some of their five-day gains in a choppy series of trading sessions that ended with all three benchmarks closing largely unchanged Friday. Contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average  were seen 111 points to the upside, indicating an opening bell gain of 127 points, while those liked to the broader S&P 500  were marked 9.25 points, or 0.3%, into the green.

Europe's Stoxx 600 index, the broadest measure of regional share prices, was marked 0.13% higher by mid-morning in Frankfurt as the major benchmarks around the Continent booked reasonably solid gains. Germany's DAX performance index, for example, was up 0.2% thanks in part to a 0.6% gain for heavyweight Deutsche Telekom AG   (DTEGY) , which will hold around 42% of the combined T-Mobile US (TMUS) and Sprint Corp (S)  after the pair agreed a $26.5 billion deal that will create the country's third-largest wireless carrier.

In London, the FTSE 100 was marked 0.27% to the good, with J Sainbury Plc (JSAIY) spiking 15% to a near four-year high of 310 pence each after it agreed to merge its grocery store business with Walmart Inc. (WMT) -owned Asda Supermakets in a $10 billion deal that creates Britain's biggest food retailer. Rival Tesco Plc (TSCDY) , which was bumped into third place by the still-to-be-approved deal, fell 1.05% to 235.6 pence each.

Sprint shares, however, were marked sharply lower in pre-market trading Monday, suggesting investors may be cautiously approaching the group's proposed $26.5 billion merger with T-Mobile amid concern regulators could scuttle a deal that would reduce competition in the country's wireless network space. Sprint was marked 13% lower in pre-market trading in New York Monday, indicating an opening bell price of $5.66 each, while T-Mobile shares traded 2.28% below their Friday close at $63.00 each.

Another deal attracting market attention this morning comes from the oil space, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MRO)  is set to pay $150 a share for Andeavor (ANDV) in a $20 billion deal that would create the biggest U.S. refiner by capacity. Prologis Inc. (PLD) may also be in focus after the logistics group agreed to buy U.S. rival DCT Industrial Trust Inc. (DCT) Sunday in a deal worth around $8.4 billion, including debt.

TheStreet