Investing.com - European stocks remained higher on Monday, as investors seemed to shrug off events in Crimea, while data showed that consumer inflation rose less-than-expected last month in the euro zone.
During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 advanced 0.78%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.67%, while Germany’s DAX 30 gained 0.68%.
Official data earlier showed that euro zone consumer price inflation rose 0.3% last month, below expectations for a 0.4% increase, after a 1.1% decline in January.
Year-on-year, consumer price inflation rose 0.7% in February, compared to expectations for a 0.8% increase, after a 0.8% gain in January.
Core consumer price inflation, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco, rose 0.5% in February, after a 1.7% fall the previous month.
Elsewhere, over 90% of Crimean voters on Sunday chose to break with Ukraine and join Russia. Crimea's Parliament on Monday formally asked to join the Russian Federation.
U.S. President Barack Obama said Washington rejected the results of the referendum and warned that the U.S. was ready to impose sanctions on Moscow.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale gained 0.76% and 0.06%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank advanced 0.71%.
Societe Generale's stocks was supported by news the Paris-based lender agreed to sell its Asian private bank to DBS Group Holdings Ltd.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit jumped 1.79%, while Spanish banks BBVA and Banco Santander rose 0.41% and 0.75% respectively.
Elsewhere, RWE rallied 1.84% after L1 Energy agreed to buy the utility’s Dea business for €5.1 billion.
In London, FTSE 100 rose 0.39%, still led by Persimmon shares, up 4.65%, after the U.K. government saifd its Help to Buy scheme will be extended to 2020.
Mining stocks also remained on the upside, as Glencore Xstrata surged 2.78% and Rio Tinto gained 0.93%, while Vedanta Resources and BHP Billiton climbed 0.56% and 1.35% respectively.
Vodafone added to gains, up 1.42%, after the wireless carrier agreed to buy Spanish cable operator Grupo Corporativo Ono SA for €7.2 billion, including debt, to boost TV and broadband offerings.
Meanwhile, financial stocks turned mostly lower. Barclays dipped 0.02% and HSBC Holdings edged down 0.13%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland declined 0.55%. Lloyds Banking overperformed however, advancing 0.68%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.51% climb, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.50% increase, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.61% gain.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish data on manufacturing activity in the Empire State, as well as reports on industrial production and long term securities transactions.