US markets were closed overnight for the Memorial Day holiday, while markets in the UK were closed for the Spring Bank holiday. European stocks finished a quiet with a slight rise, as German stocks outperformed their Continental rivals in the first reaction to a downgrade of Spain by Fitch Ratings.
The Stoxx Europe 600 finished the day with a rise of 0.3% to 244.79, led by carmakers and technology-sector firms. Shares of Daimler AG rose 1.5% and shares of business software giant SAP rose 1.7% as the German DAX finished with a rise of 0.3% to 5,964.33.
The weaker euro that has resulted from concerns about the debt burdens of Southern Europe has helped the competitiveness of German exporters.
European stocks also got a lift from comments from Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans, who said on Monday in Seoul that Europe's debt woes could prompt the US central bank to delay raising interest rates, though he played down the impact of the crisis so far.
Spain's Ibex 35 lagged the broader market, ending down 0.8% at 9,353.30. Fitch Ratings cut Spain's sovereign-debt rating to AA-plus from AAA after markets in Europe closed on Friday.
Greece's ASE Composite also closed lower, down 1.2% at 1,550.78. French stocks were also weaker, with the CAC-40 down 0.2% to 3,507.56.
France's budget minister, Francois Baroin, reportedly told a French television station that keeping the country's own AAA credit rating "is an objective that is a stretch." He said that to keep the rating, the country has to carry out planned cuts in spending and cut its deficit.
Asian stock markets ended mostly higher but buying interest was light and major benchmark indexes finished lower for the month as investors remained cautious on concerns that the euro zone's debt crisis may spread after Spain's ratings downgrade.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed 0.1% higher on Monday, while China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.4% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index finished almost flat.
New Zealand shares ended higher, buoyed by bellwether Telecom in a session that brokers said was encouraging given the weakness on Wall Street on Friday. The NZX-50 Index closed up 0.4%, or 13.48 points, at 3,061.23 in light trade.
Telecom, which was hammered down last week to a historical low of NZ$1.85 due to worries about its future after it said it is considering splitting up its retail and network businesses, ended up 2.2% at NZ$1.90.
At 07:45 a.m. (AET) the US dollar was quoted at 0.8128 euros, 91.20 yen, 1.180 AUD and 68.80 pence.