Upbeat China Manufacturing Data Sends European Stocks Higher

European stock markets moved mostly higher on Monday after better-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data boosted trading in natural-resource firms.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.3% to 345.31, after closing with a seventh straight weekly rise on Friday.

Topping the list of gainers in Monday's trade, shares of Orion Oyj rallied 13% after the Finnish drug maker lifted its full-year earnings guidance, as it struck a deal with German peer Bayer AG to develop a prostate cancer drug.

On a sector basis, mining firms helped lift the pan-European benchmark after China's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose to 50.8 in May, compared with 50.4 in April. Analysts polled by Dow Jones expected the PMI to come in at 50.6. A reading above 50 signals expansion.

Miners are sensitive to growth indications from China, as the country is a major user of natural resources. Shares of Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) climbed 1.7% in London, BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) advanced 1%, and Anglo American PLC picked up 1.9%.

The moves helped lift the U.K's FTSE 100 index , which put on 0.3% to 6,862.03.

PMIs were also in focus in Europe, where the final readings for May were released. For the euro zone, the data showed the region's manufacturing sector expanded at a slower pace than initially thought, with the PMI coming in at 52.2, down from the flash estimate of 52.5.

In France, Markit confirmed that business conditions in the manufacturing sector deteriorated for the first time in three months during May. The manufacturing PMI fell to 49.6, down from 51.2 in April, but better than the preliminary reading of 49.3.

The CAC 40 index fell 0.1% to 4,515.93, with BNP Paribas SA pulling the benchmark lower. The bank dropped 1.3% after Goldman Sachs removed the French lender from the pan-Europe conviction buy list and cut the rating to neutral from buy. The Goldman analysts said "a potentially meaningful financial penalty in the U.S. curtails the outlook for capital return."

BNP shares fell 2.4% on Friday on news the U.S. Justice Department seeks $10 billion from the French bank to resolve a criminal probe.

Elsewhere, Germany's DAX 30 index traded 0.2% higher at 9,966.20. Spain's IBEX 30 index rose 0.6% to 10,860.20, buoyed by PMI data indicating the sharpest increase in purchasing activity since April 2010, and after the Spanish prime minister Mariano Roy said Saturday he is planning to introduce a 6.3 billion-euro ($8.59 billion) economic stimulus package.