Stocks in Europe have been falling four out of the five trading days this week, as traders have looked to the U.S. where President Donald Trump has been struggling to push through his promised repeal of Obama's Affordable Care Act. The vote was scheduled for Thursday, but pushed back a day because of opposition from some Republicans. Right before the European market closed on Friday House Speaker Paul Ryan went to the White House to meet with Trump, which was being interpreted by some as a bad sign for the passage of the bill.

Earnings in China's industrial sector surged 31.5% in the January to February period from a year earlier, supported by an acceleration in output and higher commodities prices, official data showed Monday. Apart from rapid growth in coal, steel and oil prices, lower costs for the companies' main businesses also contributed to stronger profits, National Bureau of Statistics economist He Ping said in a statement accompanying the data release.