European sharemarkets started the week's trading in a bullish mood, with a jump in mergers and acquisitions activity boosting exchanges.

In North America, the Canadian sharemarket rose, reversing a two-day slide.

This is in contrast to Australasian markets, which closed lower yesterday after the Dow’s 100-point drop on Friday. (Wall Street is closed for the Martin Luther King holiday.)

The British chocolate war has hotted up with US reports that Hershey plans to bid at least $US17.9 billion next week for Cadbury against Kraft Foods’ $US17.2 billion offer.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Hershey is putting the finishing touches on a financial package that includes a loan of at least $US10 billion from banks including JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Stocks on Wall Street pushed higher as a rally in the tech sector offset lagging consumer stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 29.78 points, or 0.3%, higher at 10,710.55, above last Friday's 15-month high.

Four technology components were among the Dow's top performers, including Intel, up 1.3%, before the microchip maker released sharply increased earnings after the closing bell.

IBM was up 1.1% while Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard were also strong. Merck led the measure, up 1.7%.

Kraft Foods’ drawn-out hostile £10.2 billion takeover bid for Cadbury is entering its final stages with other players still poised to move in.

A resulting merger would have huge implications for New Zealand and Australia where both companies own manufacturing plants and are market leaders in confectionery and other food products.

The UK confectionery giant remains adamantly opposed to any takeover while on the sidelines, two other chocolate companies, Ferrero and Hershey, are positioning themselves for a possible slice of the action.

Europe’s largest food company, Nestlé, is no longer ignoring the predators surrounding chocolate and confectionery giant Cadbury and is ready to enter the fray, reports from Switzerland say.

In new developments to the Cadbury saga:

• Nestlé is weighing options about whether to mount a counter bid for Cadbury to those of Kraft Foods and potential ones from Hershey and Ferrero

• Insiders say Nestlé may decide not go ahead and the company itself is not commenting

The standoff between global food and confectionery giants Kraft Foods and Cadbury has taken a new twist with rumoured talks of a new takeover bid from chocolate companies Hershey and Ferrero.

The Wall Street Journal, quoting sources said to be familiar with the matter, says high-level talks have been going on for several weeks.

Last week, Cadbury described a hostile $US16.7 cash and shares bid from Kraft as “derisory” but since Kraft’s intentions were made public in September no rival bidders have surfaced – until now.