Europe open: Stocks rebound from last week's losses; Electrolux tumbles

European stocks rose in early trade, rebounding from last week’s losses as investors took heart from Draghi's latest comments.

At 0850 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.9%, Germany’s DAX was 1% higher and France’s CAC 40 was up 0.7%.

Sentiment was underpinned as last Friday’s bumper nonfarm payrolls report all but guaranteed a December rate hike, removing any uncertainty over the timing from the market. The report showed the US economy added 211,000 jobs in November, beating expectations.

At the same time, investors were reassured by comments from European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, who said on Friday that quantitative easing was unlimited.

“Equity markets have started the week higher, as investors shrug off last week's post-ECB disappointment and buy into Mario Draghi's no limit promise from Friday - playing catch-up on the hope and expectation that global central banks will do what it takes to support and manage their divergent monetary policy in a way to minimise risk to the markets,” said Rebecca O’Keeffe, head of investment at stockbroker Interactive Investor.

In corporate news, Saint-Gobain was on the front foot after the French building materials group received anti-trust approval from all the relevant authorities to buy Switzerland’s Sika AG.

Elsewhere, pharmaceutical company Novartis was in the black following positive results for a leukaemia treatment drug.

On the downside, shares in Electrolux tumbled after its agreement to buy General Electric’s appliance business fell through.

On the macroeconomic front, data released earlier showed industrial production in Germany grew 0.2% month-on-month in October, missing forecasts for a 0.8% rise.

Total output excluding energy and construction increased by 0.7%, led by a 2.7% month-on-month jump in the production of capital goods, while that of intermediate and consumer goods declined by 1.1% and 0.1%, respectively.