LONDON (AFP) -- Europe's main stock markets mainly rose Monday, but Paris shares were hit by news of a merger between utility giants Suez and Gaz de France.

At the halfway mark, London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares increased by 0.41 percent to 6,329.40 points and Frankfurt's DAX 30 added 0.22 percent to 7,655.19 points.
However, in Paris the CAC 40 shed 0.27 percent to 5,647.53 points, while the DJ Euro STOXX 50 index firmed 0.05 percent to 4,296.62 points.
The euro stood at 1.3625 dollars.
Investors mostly paused for breath on Monday after hefty gains on global markets Friday, as U.S. Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke and Bush moved to soothe investor concerns over the troubled U.S. housing sector.
On Monday, with the United States on holiday for Labor Day, investors focused on merger and acquisition news in Europe.
French energy group Suez and state-owned Gaz de France announced their long-awaited merger to create the world's fourth biggest energy company by market capitalization.
However, in Paris, Suez shares slumped 3.88 percent to 40.12 euros while GDF stock tumbled 3.56 percent to 35.49 euros, dragging the French stock market lower.
Dealers said the merger confirmation wiped out the appeal of both shares, which have surged in recent weeks on speculation surrounding the possible outcome of tie-up talks.
""Some people were betting on the payment of a dividend (to Suez shareholders)...while others were speculating that a collapse of the merger talks might make Suez a takeover target,"" one Paris dealer said.
The French state will retain 40 percent of the new GDF-Suez, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said, highlighting that this meant the government would direct the new 90-billion-euro (123-billion-dollar) entity.
In London meanwhile, HSBC shares rose 0.17 percent to 898.5 pence after the global banking giant said Monday it had agreed to buy a majority stake in South Korea's Korea Exchange Bank from U.S. private equity fund Lone Star for about 6.3 billion U.S. dollars (4.6 billion euros) in cash.
HSBC Chairman Stephen Green said the deal would ""provide HSBC with a significant presence in Asia's third-largest economy"".
Japanese shares prices fell Monday after a surprise drop in companies' capital spending in the second quarter.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's key Nikkei-225 index closed down 0.27 percent at 16,524.93 points.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.9 percent to close at 13.357.74 points and the broad Standard and Poor's 500 vaulted 1.12 percent to 1,473.99. The tech-dominated Nasdaq closed up 1.21 percent at 2,596.36 points.
Last month's chaos in world financial markets was caused by trouble in the U.S. ""sub-prime"" sector of loans to customers with patchy credit histories who now cannot make payments