European markets rise as the new trading week kicks off

This is CNBC's live blog covering European markets.

European stocks were higher on Monday, with positive sentiment picking up after a choppy week last week.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was last up 0.24% at 8:52 a.m. London time after a mixed start to the day.

The region's major indexes had closed higher on Friday as investors assessed U.K. growth figures and looked ahead to the much-anticipated Chinese stimulus announcement over the weekend.

China's Minister of Finance Lan Fo'an in a press briefing on Saturday hinted at more debt issuance amid efforts to shore up the economy, stating the government had a "rather large" space to increase the deficit.

Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose on Monday, with mainland China's CSI 300 ending the day 1.9% higher after a choppy session as investors assessed the briefing.

Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures were little changed in overnight trading Sunday as investors awaited the next batch of key corporate earnings; Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Johnson & Johnson report their latest results on Tuesday before the market opens, while Morgan Stanley and United Airlines are set to release results Wednesday.

— CNBC's Anniek Bao and Yun Li contributed to this markets summary.

Correction: This blog has been updated to reflect that no major earnings or data releases are due Monday.

Betting companies Entain and Flutter tumbled in Europe on Monday after a media report last week indicated that the U.K. government could increase taxes on online casinos and bookmakers.

The Guardian on Friday reported that some of these taxes could double, and could come as soon as the U.K. budget is announced later this month.

Shares in Entain were last down 14.3%, while European-listed shares in Flutter were last down