By Riva Gold

Stocks in Europe and Asia were mostly higher Monday in a week that is expected to be dominated by Brexit developments and fresh readings on the U.S. and European economies.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.5% in early trading after closing on Friday at its lowest level this month.

Nearly every sector was in positive territory Monday, but health care companies drove most of the gains, with shares of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis up 1.6% following the FDA's approval of its drug Promacta on Friday. Shares of Danish insulin maker Novo Nordisk were up 4.2% and Shire rose 2.1%.

The upbeat tone came as futures also pointed to a small opening gain on Wall Street. U.S. stocks closed higher Friday but ended the week with losses after disappointing corporate results and below-forecast U.S. industrial output figures reignited worries that growth was slowing.

Third-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies have mostly surged this quarter, jumping 26% from a year earlier, but downbeat comments about the outlook for next year have damped investors' enthusiasm.

Earnings reports are expected to wrap up this week, shifting focus back to other market drivers.

In Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.65% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.7% and the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.9%.

Monday's gains came even after an economic summit of world leaders ended on Sunday without issuing a communiqué for the first time in its nearly three-decade history amid a fight over Chinese trade practices.

Many investors remain hopeful that U.S.-China trade tensions will cool when President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet in Buenos Aires in less than two weeks. The two sides are aiming for at least a trade cease-fire that would involve a new set of negotiations tied to a U.S. pledge to hold off on additional tariffs.

Elsewhere, Australia's commodity-heavy S&P ASX 200 edged down 0.6% after falling over 3% last week when oil prices dropped sharply. Brent crude oil was last up 0.5% at $67.12 a barrel but remained down 4.3% from a week ago.

Later this week, investors are expected to parse figures on U.S. housing starts, home sales and consumer sentiment data, as well as key business surveys from the eurozone.

Brexit developments will also likely continue to steer European appetite for risk ahead of a Nov. 25 summit as U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May fights to save her Brexit deal.

The British pound was up 0.2% at $1.2863 on Monday and the FTSE 250 stock index was up 0.5%, recouping some of last week's declines.

Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 19, 2018 04:13 ET (09:13 GMT)

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