(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks eked out modest gains in cautious trade on Monday as traders digested the unexpected result of France's snap election and looked forward to upcoming Congressional testimony by Fed Chair Jerome Powell as well as the release of U.S. CPI data this week for greater clarity on Fed's monetary policy path.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 15 points, or 0.2 percent, at 8,219 after losing half a percent on Friday.
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).
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.
