European markets closed slightly higher Monday after a choppy day of trading, with attention this week set to be on the publication of Federal Reserve meeting notes.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index moved between slight losses and gains throughout the session. It closed up 0.1%.
Mining stocks were the most upbeat, adding 2.4%, while tech stocks fell 0.6% and household goods dropped 0.5%.
The Stoxx defied markets in the U.S. and Asia to climb higher last week despite a slight retreat on Friday, as the economic outlook for the region continued to brighten and several corporate earnings beat expectations.
The index reached a one-year high, while both the FTSE 100 and France’s CAC 40 touched record highs during the week.
Investors will be keenly watching as the U.S. central bank releases minutes from its latest meeting on Wednesday.
EU figures published Monday morning showed production in the construction sector contracted by 2% in December, with an 8% decline in Germany. Construction and materials stocks brushed off the news to trade 0.3% higher.
Monday afternoon also saw the publication of euro zone consumer confidence data, which showed an increase to -19.0 in February. The figure matched forecasts by Reuters analysts, but showed consumer confidence was still well below the long-term average.
Markets in Asia-Pacific closed mostly higher as the People’s Bank of China left its 1-year and 5-year prime loan rates unchanged, as was widely expected.
U.S. markets were closed Monday for Presidents’ Day.
