Telecoms firms lift Europe shares after Telenet-KPN Belgian deal

LONDON: European shares edged higher early on Monday, led by the telecoms sector after Telenet's move to buy KPN's mobile telephony unit in Belgium.

Belgium's Telenet, a subsidiary of cable company Liberty Global, rose 6 percent after agreeing to acquire KPN's BASE Company for 1.325 billion euros ($1.43 billion), sending shares in the Dutch firm up 3 percent.

At 0710 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.6 percent to 1,616.78 points after shedding 2.3 percent in the previous week.

The index was also helped by a rise in basic resources stocks after the Chinese central bank unveiled new measures to shore up the world's second-largest economy and top consumer of metals.