The European markets are mostly higher in early afternoon trading Monday, even as other markets in the region remained in the green after upbeat data on consumer sentiment and leading economic indicators boosted investor confidence in the U.S. in the previous session.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is adding 0.02 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is losing 0.16 percent.
The German DAX is rising 0.4 percent and the French CAC 40 is advancing 0.2 percent. Switzerland's SMI is adding 0.3 percent while the UK's FTSE 100 is losing 0.1 percent.
In Frankfurt, Commerzbank is adding 4.8 percent and Deutsche Bank is advancing around 1 percent.
BMW, Volkswagen and Daimler are rising between 3.2 percent and 2.4 percent.
Rheinmetall is climbing 3.6 percent after Deutsche Bank raised the stock to ''Hold'' from ''Sell.''
Bilfinger Berger is modestly up. Merrill Lynch added Bilfinger to its ''Most Preferred List.''
In Paris, STMicroelectronics is gaining 3.4 percent. JPMorgan reinitiated the stock with an ''Overweight'' rating.
Carmaker Renault is gaining 3.3 percent and speed-train manufacturer Alstom is adding 2.4 percent.
Societe Generale, Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas are gaining between 2.2 percent and 1.2 percent.
EDF is gaining 1.2 percent, following a ratings upgrade at Credit Suisse.
Bucking the trend, Veolia Environnement is falling 4.8 percent.
In London, Eurasian Natural Resources is dropping more than 3 percent. The miner rejected an acquisition offer from a consortium.
Firstgroup is plunging more than 20 percent. The company announced annual results.
Thomas Cook is falling close to 4 percent after a broker downgrade.
Ryanair is gaining more than 7 percent after reporting full year results. Peer easyJet is adding 4.3 percent.
Royal Bank of Scotland is rising 3.2 percent after Numis raised the stock to ''Buy'' from ''Hold.''
Across Asia/Pacific, markets ended broadly higher. Australia's All Ordinaries rose 0.5 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index added 0.8 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 1.8 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.5 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a lower open on Wall Street. In the previous session, stocks rose, as investors cheered upbeat economic reports as well as comments from Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Narayana Kocherlakota, who continued to make the case for an accommodative monetary policy. The Dow gained 0.8 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the S&P 500 added about a percent each.
In the commodity space, crude for June delivery is falling $0.48 to $95.54 per barrel and June gold is declining $14.8 to $1349.9 a troy ounce.
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