European stocks rose moderately after their biggest weekly drop since January on positive news on the corporate front , and contrary to the global trend to reduce markets due to concerns about the situation in Ukraine .

In Crimea , a total of 95.5 percent of voters opted for separation from Ukraine in yesterday's poll , according to preliminary results . Ukrainian authorities , the U.S. and several EU countries said they did not believe the Crimean referendum legitimate , while , according to the Russian side, it is consistent with international law .

Today, the foreign ministers of the EU countries are meeting in Brussels , the results of which are expected to be adopted by a number of sanctions against Russian officials. The possibility of introducing other sanctions against Russian leaders will discuss the 28 EU countries at a meeting to be held this week.

U.S. index futures also rose , while Asian shares fell .

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.7 percent . Last week, the index fell by 3.3 percent, as investors awaited referendum on Crimea to leave Ukraine and join Russia .

Market participants' attention is also drawn to reports in the U.S. today . At 12:30 GMT , there are data on the index of activity in the manufacturing sector of the New York Fed . According to forecasts , this figure will rise to the level in March of 6.6 points from 4.48 in February.

13:15 GMT release in may show that industrial production increased by 0.2 percent in February after falling 0.3 percent in January .

Cost RWE rose 2.3 percent after it became known that the German energy company agreed in principle to sell its oil and gas business of L1 Energy for 5.1 billion euros.

Societe Generale shares rose 1.2 %, as the French bank announced the sale of its Asian business in the sphere of banking wealthy clients Singapore DBS Bank Ltd. for $ 220 million

Cost of Vodafone Group Plc rose 1.1% on news of buying the British company of the Spanish cable operator Ono SA for 7.2 billion euros.

Price Allianz SE rose 1.6% , as the company announced its readiness to buy a business in the insurance property and casualty UnipolSai SpA for about 440 million euros.

At the current moment

FTSE 100 6,558.32 +30.43 +0.47 %

CAC 40 4,244.35 +27.98 +0.66 %

DAX 9,123.55 +67.14 +0.74%