11:58 AM EDT, 03/17/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets were moving higher in Monday trading as The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.75%, Germany's DAX was up 0.61%, the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.58%, France's CAC 40 increased 0.50%, and the Swiss Market Index advanced 0.98%.

In Italy, the consumer price index in February was up 0.2% compared with the previous month and up 1.6% compared with a year earlier, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics. The rise was mainly attributed to an increase in regulated energy products prices.

And in corporate news, AstraZeneca said Monday that it has agreed to acquire EsoBiotec for as much as $1 billion. The consideration consists of an initial payment of $425 million, and up to $575 million in contingency payments. The deal includes EsoBiotec's Engineered NanoBody Lentiviral delivery platform. The British pharmaceutical giant said it expects the deal to close in Q2.

UK financial services company HSBC is in talks to sell about A$13 billion ($8.3 billion) of Australian home loans, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. HSBC did not immediately reply to a request for comment from MT Newswires.

European automaker Stellantis said Monday it is investing more than 38 million euros ($41.4 million) in its Verrone plant in Italy to produce components for electric vehicles, with production set to begin in late 2027.

British oil and gas company BP, along with Azerbaijan's national oil company Socar and Israeli firm NewMed Energy, were granted licenses to explore for natural gas in 1,700 square kilometers of Mediterranean Sea waters near the Leviathan field, Reuters reported Monday.

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