European equities trade near one-month low, telecoms fall

European shares dropped to near a one-month low Monday, with telecom shares slumping after talks between Orange and Bouygues on a deal to create a dominant French telecoms operator collapsed.

The STOXX Europe 600 Telecommunications index fell 2 percent, the top sectoral decliner, following the failure on Friday of the proposed 10 billion euro ($11.4 billion) cash-and-share deal.

Shares in Orange fell 6.8 percent, Bouygues slumped 15.7 percent, Iliad fell 14.5 percent and SFR dropped 16.5 percent.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.2 percent in early trading after falling 1.5 percent to a one-month low in the previous session.

Source: Reuters