Europe Stocks Reverse Declines, Most Asian Markets Remain Mixed

European shares reversed early losses Monday as investor sentiment perked up after economic data released Friday showed a sustained recovery in the U.S. labor market and a rebound in Chinese manufacturing activity. In Asia, markets in China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan were closed on account of a holiday.

The U.S. jobs figures were "neutral," Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management, told Nasdaq. "They weren't good enough to raise speculation for faster U.S. rate increases. Nor were they bad enough to stoke concerns about a worsening of the economy."

The U.S. economy added better-than-expected 215,000 jobs in March, according to nonfarm payroll data released Friday.

Germany led major European bourses Monday, with the DAX index up 0.62 percent while London's FTSE 100 was up 0.47 percent and France's CAC 40 was up 0.49 percent. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.52 percent.

Asian markets finished mixed with Japan’s Nikkei 225 down 0.25 percent as the yen strengthened. Data from Bank of Japan released Sunday showed that the central bank's adoption of negative interest rates in late January had not yet helped boost the country’s inflation.

Elsewhere in Asia, India’s benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.17 percent. Australia’s ASX index was down marginally.

In the U.S., stock futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were both up 0.25 percent while the Dow Jones stock futures were up 0.15 percent.