European stocks rose, pushing the Stoxx Europe 600 Index toward its longest streak of monthly gains since 1997, as Italy formed a new government and as U.S. consumer spending unexpectedly increased in March.

The Stoxx 600 advanced 0.5 percent to 297.39, its highest level since April 2. The benchmark gauge has climbed 1.2 percent in April, its 11th month of gains, as investors bet the region's central bank will cut rates and as companies reported better- than-expected results.

"What Europe really needs is growth, and anything that helps that growth narrative is a good thing," Adrian Bignell, a fund manager at Invesco U.K. Ltd., said in an interview with Mark Barton and Anna Edwards on Bloomberg Television. "The jigsaw is slowly coming together in Europe. Nothing is particularly beautiful, but somehow we seem to muddle through. The Italian government being formed this weekend is a good case in point for one more piece coming into the jigsaw."

National benchmark indexes advanced in 15 of the 18 western European markets.

FTSE 100 6,458.02 +31.60 +0.49% CAC 40 3,868.68 +58.63 +1.54% DAX 7,873.5 +58.74 +0.75%

In Italy, Enrico Letta was sworn in as prime minister yesterday, ending political uncertainty after February's inconclusive elections. Letta formed an alliance with Silvio Berlusconi, who has pledged to undo some parts of previous premier Mario Monti's budget-cutting measures.

Aberdeen rose 8 percent to 450.5 pence, its highest price since January 2001, after Scotland's biggest fund manager reported first-half adjusted pretax profit of 222.8 million pounds ($345 million), surpassing the average analyst projection of 211 million pounds. The company raised its dividend to 6 pence a share.

Swedish Match advanced 6.7 percent to 221.90 kronor as the snuffmaker posted first-quarter net income of 740 million kronor ($113 million), exceeding the 677 million-kronor estimate of analysts.

Mediaset SpA, owned by Berlusconi, was among the biggest gainers in Italy today, rising 4.7 percent to 1.97 euros. Intesa Sanpaolo SpA added 2.7 percent to 1.39 euros. UniCredit SpA, Italy's biggest lender, gained 2.5 percent to 4.02 euros.

Ageas climbed 4.8 percent to 27.75 euros. The majority owner of Belgium's biggest life insurer said it will pay shareholders 1 euro a share as it will receive 1.04 billion euros ($1.36 billion) from the sale of Royal Park Investments' asset portfolio and 144 million euros from the sale of a call option on BNP Paribas SA's shares.

Pohjola Bank Plc rose 5.3 percent to 13.34 euros, the highest price since at least 1992, as the Finnish lender said it expects higher consolidated pretax profit in 2013 compared with last year. First-quarter net income rose to 100 million euros, from 80 million euros a year earlier.

Fiat SpA (F) declined 1.2 percent to 4.64 euros after the Italian automaker said profit fell 23 percent to 618 million euros in the first quarter from a year earlier. Analysts had projected a drop to 691 million euros.

U.S. stock futures climbed as investors awaited a report that may show more Americans signed contracts to purchase homes in March.

Global Stocks:

Hang Seng 22,580.77 +33.06 +0.15%

FTSE 6,436.95 +10.53 +0.16%

CAC 3,848.87 +38.82 +1.02%

DAX 7,844.36 +29.60 +0.38%

Crude oil $93.34 +0.37%

Gold $1469.00 +1.06%

Major European Stock indexes are trading mixed on weaker economic data and as Italy formed a new government and optimism grew that central banks will decide to maintain economic stimulus in their meetings this week.

Economic confidence in the euro area decreased more than economists forecast in April, data showed. An index of executive and consumer sentiment dropped to 88.6 this month from a revised 90.1 in March. Economists had forecast a decline to 89.3.

Currently:

FTSE 6,423.38 -3.04 -0.05%

CAC 3,835.78 +25.73 +0.68%

Asian stocks rose, with a regional benchmark index headed for the highest closing level in six weeks, amid optimism central banks will maintain loose monetary policies to boost economic growth.

Nikkei 225 13,884.13 -41.95 -0.30%

Hang Seng 22,547.96 +0.25 0.00%

S&P/ASX 200 5,125.8 +28.29 +0.56%

Shanghai Composite 2,177.91 -21.40 -0.97%

ZTE Corp. gained 3.6 percent in Hong Kong as China's second-biggest maker of mobile-phone equipment returned to profit in the first three months of this year.

Westpac Banking Corp. jumped 1.7 percent, leading Australian banks higher, as analysts forecast the country's second-largest lender will announce increased profit this week.

OCI Co. lost 2.1 percent, heading for its lowest closing level in more than five years, after clients canceled 1.46 trillion won ($1.3 billion) of polysilicon orders with the South Korean chemical manufacturer.