Stocks rise abroad on takeovers

European stocks rose Monday for a third straight day, buoyed by takeover activity, and shares also were higher across most of Asia.

But the dollar’s strength in the new year is hurting U.S. investors in many foreign markets.

With Wall Street shuttered on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Day, European markets took their cue from a continuing surge in corporate deal activity.

In Britain, Smiths Group shares jumped 11% after General Electric agreed to buy the company’s aerospace unit for $4.8 billion. Norway-based Tandberg Television, a maker of digital broadcasting equipment, climbed after U.S.-based Arris Group agreed to buy the company for $1.2 billion.

Deal activity shows there is ample liquidity in the global economy, said Friedrich Diel, who helps oversee $14 billion at Frankfurt Trust Investment.

“Mergers and acquisitions will continue to support share prices,” Diel said.

Germany’s DAX stock index rose 0.4% to 6,731.74, its highest in nearly six years. France’s CAC index gained 0.2% to 5,631.08, highest since 2001.

In Britain the FTSE-100 index gained 0.4% to 6,263.50. It reached a six-year high Jan. 3.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 2.3% to 20,068.56, rebounding from a sell-off last week.

Stocks soared anew in China. The Shanghai composite index surged 4.7%. The Shenzhen composite was up 5.3%.

China’s markets have been on fire in recent weeks on speculation that appreciation of the country’s currency, the yuan, will drive up asset prices. Foreign investors betting the currency will continue to rise have been buying yuan-denominated assets, notably property, analysts say.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 index rose 0.9% to 17,209.92, despite some economists’ expectations that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates Thursday for the first time since July.

Mexico’s main share index rose 0.6% to 26,480.03.

Although many major foreign markets have rallied this year, the dollar’s strength against the euro, the yen and other currencies is cutting into U.S. investors’ gains in foreign shares. Germany’s market is up 2% year to date in euros but is flat in dollars. Mexico’s market is up 0.1% in pesos but down 1.4% in dollars.

By contrast, the Dow Jones industrial average, which closed at a record high of 12,556.08 on Friday, is up 0.8% this year.