European Stocks Higher in Slow Advance

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- European markets were trading in the green Monday, assisted somewhat by momentum from the news that the South Korean economy grew more than expected in the third quarter. The same news report helped most Asian markets advance, while it offered some support to the S&P 500 futures.

The German DAX is higher by 0.7%, leading the gains in European trade after absorbing a report showed that German consumer confidence fell for the first time in nine months. Closely following the German DAX move higher is the French CAC-40 index, as both advanced on the gains seen in the automaker sector. The Eastern European markets are trading in the red, but the declines are relatively small.

S&P futures traded between the 1075.00 and the 1080.00 areas during the overnight session. Both areas acted as important intraday swing points in recent trade and have significant technical importance to both bullish and bearish outlooks in the near term. The 1075.00 area has held as support on S&P futures for almost two weeks now. A break, and daily chart close below this area would extend the current downtrend and would probably send the global equity markets lower.

The automobile and parts sector, and the chemicals sector saw the strongest gains in Europe, both surging around 1%. The automobile and parts sector surged following Kia's upgrade to a "buy," which helped carmakers move higher in European trade.

In Germany, Volkswagen gained 1.65%, while Renault advanced 3% in France.

All but three sectors advanced in European trade -- the laggards were financials, health care and media. The financial sector, which has a very big weighting in the European equity index valuations declined after ING(ING Quote) announced it plans to raise $11.3 billion in right issues. So far, ING has plunged 8%.