The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up around 0.5 percent shortly after the opening bell, with all sectors and major bourses in positive territory.
Market focus is largely attuned to global trade developments, with a delegation of U.S. officials set to travel to China for the next round of negotiations this week.
The latest set of trade talks will take place in Beijing from Monday. It comes after discussions in Washington last week concluded without a deal.
The mainland Chinese markets, which were offline for much of last week due to the Lunar New Year holidays, saw gains by the end of the morning session. The Shanghai composite rose more than 0.8 percent while the Shenzhen component advanced 2.281 percent. The Shenzhen composite gained 2.175 percent.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.23 percent as shares of Chinese tech giant Tencent gained 1.22 percent.
· Chinese stocks jumped on Monday as China and the United States moved the trade talks forward and after retailers reported strong holiday sales figures.
The Shanghai Composite index rose 1.4 percent to 2,653.90 points, its highest close since Dec. 5, 2018. The index has risen 6.4percent so far this year.
Although the two sides will unlikely reach an immediate agreement on these issues, “the market is expecting the deadline to be extended so people are not prepared to be too negative (on share prices) at this point,” said Steven Leung, director of sales, UOB Kay Hian in Hong Kong.
· Japan's stock markets are closed on Monday for a holiday.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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