European Shares Slightly Higher As French Elections Deliver Hung Parliament

(RTTNews) - European stocks eked out modest gains on Monday after a left-wing alliance won the most seats in the French parliament, thwarting the far right in a stunning result to Sunday's second-round vote.

However, no single political faction got even close to the majority needed to form a government, creating political mayhem that has undermined the president's power and shaken the foundations of the European Union's second-largest economy.

In economic releases, Germany's exports declined for the first time in three months in May as demand from China and the United States weakened, data published by Destatis showed today.

Exports posted a monthly fall of 3.6 percent, in contrast to the 1.7 percent increase in April. At the same time, imports declined more deeply by 6.6 percent, reversing a 1.2 percent rise in April.

Eurozone investor confidence worsened in July, with the corresponding index falling from 0.3 to -7.3.

The pan European STOXX 600 rose 0.3 percent to 518.02 after falling 0.2 percent on Friday.

The German DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both gained around 0.3 percent, while France's CAC 40 added 0.4 percent.

Britvic jumped 4.6 percent after Danish brewer Carlsberg agreed to acquire the British soft drinks maker for 3.3 billion pounds ($4.23 billion). Shares of the latter rallied 3.4 percent.

Marston's surged 16 percent after the pub and hotel operator disposed of its 40 percent stake in its brewing joint venture with Carlsberg.

Energy giant BP Plc fell 1.3 percent and Shell shed 0.7 percent as crude prices slipped after rising for four weeks.

HgCapital Trust rose about 1 percent. The private equity trust has agreed to sell its remaining investment in business software company TeamSystem.

French banks rallied, with BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale rising 1-2 percent.

Delivery Hero shares slumped 5.3 percent. The German online food takeaway firm said it may face a fine above 400 million euros from Brussels due to antitrust violations.