Investing.com - European stocks opened sharply higher on Monday, as expectations for fresh easing measures by the European Central Bank boosted demand for European equities.
During European morning trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 rallied 1.55%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 1.50%, while Germany’s DAX jumped 1.55%.
European stocks strengthened broadly after data on Thursday showing that the euro zone economy stagnated in the second quarter fuelled speculation that the ECB will embark on quantitative easing to bolster the faltering recovery in the region.
Meanwhile, market participants continued to focus on developments in Ukraine following reports on Friday that the country's military attacked and destroyed a number of armored vehicles that entered the country from Russia.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) jumped 1.14% and 1.75%, while Germany's Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) gained 0.93%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) rallied 1.12% and 1.51% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) surged 1.30% and 1.50%.
Elsewhere, Telecom Italia (MILAN:TLIT) advanced 0.68% following news the company is preparing to make an offer for Vivendi (PARIS:VIV)'s Brazilian broadband unit GVT. Boosted by the report, shares in Vivendi rallied 1.62%.
United Internet (XETRA:UTDI) added to gains, up 2.98%, after the German Internet services company bought a 10.7% stake in Rocket Internet.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 climbed 0.70%, supported by gains in the mining sector.
Shares in Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) advanced 0.98% and Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) jumped 1.38%, while Bhp Billiton (LONDON:BLT) and Vedanta Resources (LONDON:VED) gained 1.29% and 1.88% respectively.
Rio Tinto was said to be reviewing a controlling stake in Bougainville Copper Ltd (ASX:BOC), a company that owns the deposit in an abandoned mine in Papua New Guinea worth more than $60 billion.
In the financial sector, stocks were also mostly higher. HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) edged up 0.09% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) jumped 0.98%, while Barclays (LONDON:BARC) rallied 1.06%. Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) held steady, dipping 0.05%.
Meanwhile, Tesco (LONDON:TSCO) led losses on the index, with shares tumbling 1.21%. The grocery retailer made headlines over the weekend when a group of men waving Palestinian flags burst into a Tesco store in Birmingham on Saturday and threw produce on the ground.
The incident followed a number of other protests outside Tesco stores elsewhere in the U.K., including Halifax, Cork, Belfast, Oldham and Liverpool. The protesters oppose the sale of Israeli produce and products in Britain.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.49% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.49% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.45% climb.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce private sector data on the housing market.