Investing.com - European stocks were broadly higher on Monday, boosted by upbeat corporate earnings reports and as remarks by the European Central Bank last week continued to lend support.
During European morning trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 climbed 0.44%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.50%, while Germany’s DAX added 0.12%.
European equitiy markets remained supported after the ECB President Mario Draghi said late last week that the ECB would soon begin purchasing asset-backed securities to prop up the economy.
The program will run for two years and have a "sizeable impact" on the ECB’s balance sheet, Draghi said.
In earnings news, Carlsberg (COP:CARLa) shares rallied 1.33% after the brewer reported third-quarter profit in line with estimates.
Financial stocks were mostly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) rose 0.33% and 0.39%, although Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) tumbled 1.20%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) gained 0.91% and 0.27% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) advanced 0.43% and 1.11%.
Elsewhere, Nutreco (AMS:NUO) soared 13.11% after a Dutch investment company raised its bid for the animal-feed maker by 11%, fending off a rival approach by Cargill Inc.
In London, FTSE 100 gained 0.40%, led by Tesco (LONDON:TSCO), up 2.41% despite reports the retailer lost its top spot in entertainment to Amazon.com.
Mining stocks added to gains, as Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) jumped 1.25% and Randgold Resources (LONDON:RRS) rallied 1.37%, while Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) and Antofagasta (LONDON:ANTO) climbed 1.46% and 1.63% respectively.
In the financial sector, stocks were also broadly higher. Shares in Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) edged up 0.08% and Barclays (LONDON:BARC) advanced 0.58%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) gained 0.88% and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) jumped 1.25%.
On the downside, Serco Group (LONDON:SRP) dove 30.34% as the U.K. government-services company lowered its operating profit outlook for 2014 to £140 million after previously forecasting no less than £155 million.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.09% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled an 0.03% uptick, while the NASDAQ 100 futures indicated a 0.18% rise.