By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) ? European stock markets traded higher on Monday, tracking a positive trading day in Asia, where most markets closed higher on hopes Beijing will step in to support the Chinese economy.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index XX:SXXP -0.46% climbed 0.1% to 306.26, building on 0.6% gain from Friday.
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Among notable movers in the index, shares of Technip SA FR:TEC +1.35% added 1.7% after the oil-field-services firm said its joint venture with Norway?s DOF Installer ASA secured a 1.35-billion-euro contract ($1.80 billion) with Brazilian oil firm Petrobras SA PBR +2.44% .
Shares of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC UK:RBS +1.05% RBS +0.89% picked up 1.2% after The Sunday Telegraph over the weekend reported that U.K. Business Secretary Vince Cable has signaled that RBS will remain in public hands for another five years. The bank is currently 81% owned by the U.K. government.
More broadly, investors took inspiration from Asia, where most markets closed higheramid hopes Chinese authorities will move to boost the economy. Hong Kong daily newspaper South China Morning Post reported that Beijing was ?quietly offering financial stimulus? to key cities and provinces to support the local economies.
MarketWatch/William Watts
Japanese stocks, however, closed lower, after the government said the economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.6% in the previous quarter, falling short of expectations.
Among country-specific indexes in Europe, the U.K.?s FTSE 100 index UK:UKX -0.47% gained 0.1% to 6,589.67.
Germany?s DAX 30 index DX:DAX -1.07% slipped 0.2% to 8,323.89, while France?s CAC 40 index FR:PX1 -0.58% was marginally lower at 4,074.99.