European markets close higher as focus shifts to data, politics; Anglo American up 3%

• The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed higher Monday afternoon, with all sectors and major bourses in positive territory.
• Basic resources rallied 1.38 percent, led by Anglo American on news that the firm had sold its stake in an Australian mine.
• Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is due to speak at the House on Tuesday.

European shares closed higher Monday afternoon.

European markets

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.57 percent to the upside, with all sectors and major bourses in positive territory.

The U.K. FTSE 100 moved the most, closing 0.62 percent higher.

Basic resources rallied 1.38 percent, with British/South African miner Anglo American topping the sector. Its stock closed over 3 percent higher on news that the company had sold its stake in Drayton coal mine in Australia.

Europe's technology stocks were among the top performers, closing up nearly 1 percent after major telecom operators announced their respective timelines for the adoption of next-generation 5G networks. The scheduled roll-out prompted shares of Temenos Group to close over 6 percent higher, while Nokia had surged over 2 percent by the end of the day's trading.

Looking at individual stocks, Porsche shares performed well after a rating upgrade. Deutsche Bank upwardly revised its stock recommendation to "buy" from "hold" Monday morning, initially sending shares of the Germany automaker up over 3 percent, although it later pared back these gains to close 2.2 percent higher.

Lloyd's of London underwriter Hiscox posted a more than 90 percent fall in full-year pretax profit, as the company said insurers and reinsurers had faced the costliest year on record due to natural disasters. Shares of the firm were closed over 2 percent lower on the news.

In European politics, Germany's Christian Democrats approved a coalition agreement with the center-left Social Democrats. This brings incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel closer to her fourth term leading Europe's largest economy.

U.S. shares sharply higher 

U.S. markets traded sharply higher Monday, with the Dow Jones industrial average jumping more than 230 points with industrial titans Boeing and 3M contributing the most to the blue-chip index. The S&P 500 was up 0.6 percent after a strong performance in telecommunications and technology stocks.

New Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is to address Congress later in the day.