European markets start the new trading month higher

LONDON — European stocks opened the new trading week — and month — on a positive note ahead of a busy week of central bank decisions and earnings.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 opened just above the flatline. The U.K.’s FTSE index was up 0.3% higher shortly after 8:00 a.m. in London (3:00 a.m. ET), as Germany’s DAX rose 0.1%. France’s CAC 40  was down almost 0.2%, and Italy’s FTSE MIB also dipped 0.1%.

The week’s earnings kicked off with Ryanair reporting after-tax profits of 1.72 billion euros ($1.98 billion) for the second quarter and 2.54 billion euros for the first half — a 42% rise which was in line with analysts’ estimates.

The low-cost airline also reported first-half revenues of 9.82 billion euros, a rise of 13%.

Ryanair’s results will be followed by BP, Ferrari and Aramco on Tuesday and BMW and Vestas the day after, among others. On Thursday, earnings will come from Commerzbank, Diageo, Rheinmetall, AstraZeneca and Maersk and on Friday, we’ll get Richemont’s latest results.

The Riksbank will announce its latest interest rate decision on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, we’ll have the latest monetary policy decision from the Bank of England, with economists split over whether the central bank will hold or cut interest rates. Germany’s Bundesbank will also releases its latest financial stability report.

U.S. stock futures were little changed on Monday morning, while Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed.

Investors in Asia are assessing manufacturing activity figures from China following the release of RatingDog’s purchasing managers’ index for October. China’s manufacturing activity slowed to 50.6, missing the 50.9 expected by economists polled by Reuters and lower than September’s 51.2.

The official PMI numbers released Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that China’s manufacturing activity in October shrank to its lowest level in six months, coming in at 49.0.

— CNBC’s Lim Hui Jie contributed reporting to this story.