Spanish Socialists win parliamentary elections

European stocks were mixed on Monday morning, due to lingering concerns about the outlook for the global economy.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 did not move at the start of the business, with the sectors and major stock markets facing opposite directions.

The European banking index led gains shortly after the opening bell, up about 0.8%. This comes after S & P Global confirmed Italy's credit rating at BBB on Friday. The agency is giving the populist government of Rome more time to implement policies to address the country's economic problems. Banco BPM, Ubi Banca and Unicredit all grew by more than 2%.

As far as individual stocks, Bayer, Germany, has collapsed down the European benchmark. On Saturday, the company's supervisory board said it was supporting the management after the refusal of a majority of shareholders to ratify the shares of management in 2018. Bayer's shares slid from more than 2%.

Chemicals maker Covestro announced Monday that its core profits had dropped 58 percent in the first three months of 2019, as prices for its products were under pressure as competitors increased production. Shares of the company fell 1.5%.

Market participants are eagerly awaiting a meeting of data from the US Federal Reserve and Chinese factories to obtain additional clues to policy direction in the world's largest economies.

This comes after the US announced stronger than expected growth in the first three months of the year. Official data showed gross domestic product (GDP) at an annualized rate of 3.2% in the first quarter of 2019, exceeding analysts' expectations.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the US central bank will announce Wednesday its latest monetary policy decision.

The MSCI's broadest share of Asia Pacific stocks, excluding Japan, rose about 0.4% on Monday. Japanese financial markets are closed for a long national holiday this week.

Back in Europe, the ruling Socialists in Spain won the country's parliamentary elections on Sunday.

The Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) won the most seats this weekend, but remained well below the majority needed to form a single government.

The elections also allowed the Spanish party Vox to win 24 seats, making it the first far-right party to enter parliament since the end of military rule in the 1970s.