Countrywide gained 3.5% after Apollo Management late Friday agreed to buy the real estate chain shares for 1 billion pounds. Getaz Romang shares rose 21% after Ireland CRH agreed to buy it for $442 million.

Decliners

Fears that sharp strengthening for the Swiss franc could hurt exports drove Swatch 3.9% lower. Richemont, which owns the Cartier brand, announced a joint venture to design, manufacture and distribute watches under the Ralph Lauren brand. The venture, which aims to launch products in Autumn 2008, will operate at a loss for a few years. Richemont shares fell 2.6%.

Mining and metals stocks were lower as commodity prices fell. Xstrata, the London-listed miner, was down 4%, while steelmaker Arcelor-Mittal shed 4.1%.

Oil and gold

Gold fell to a five-week low on selling by investors holding the precious metal in exchange-traded funds after a slump in Asian and European stocks. Gold for immediate delivery dropped $5.70, or 0.9%, to $636.75 an ounce in early trade in London.

Crude oil fell for a second day on concern global economic growth will slow, reducing fuel consumption. Crude oil for April delivery fell as much as $1.18, or 1.9%, to $60.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude dropped as much as $1.29, or 2.1%, to $60.79 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in early trade in London.

Currencies

The euro dropped against the dollar on Monday, while the U.S. currency hit a three-month low against the Japanese yen as global stock markets remained nervous following last week sell-off. In morning European trading the euro bought $1.3129, down from $1.3191 late Friday in New York. The British pound fell to $1.9225 from $1.9433 in New York, while the dollar slipped to purchase 115.36 Japanese yen, down from 116.75 on Friday.