23.10.201720:57:00UTC+00European Markets Marginally Higher on Earnings Season

European markets reported moderate gains on Monday, as investors priced in new corporate earnings and tried to brush off any concerns that persist in Spain's Catalonia crisis.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was off its session peaks by the close, but managed to end 0.16 percent higher, with most of the sectors in the black.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.02 percent and the German DAX rose 0.09 percent. France's CAC 40 climbed 0.27 percent by the end of the trading day.

Spain's benchmark IBEX dropped 0.6 percent, with lenders, which include BBVA and Banco Santander, both over one percent lower, taking the most points off the index.

Financial shares dropped across Europe, with the banking sector slipping 0.5 percent and heavyweights Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered falling 1.2 percent and 0.6 percent respectively.

Technology was Europe's top performing sector for the day, bouncing 1.31 percent, with nearly all of its stocks ending in the black. German-listed Software soared 4.85 percent after both UBS and Independent Research improved their target prices on the stock.

Engineering company GKN jumped more than five percent after a report by The Sunday Times which stated that the UK firm was looking into potentially slipping into two listed firms, one business being aerospace and the other being automotive.

French utility Engie gained 2.1 percent after a financial newsletter reported it was in negotiations over the potential sale of its liquefied natural gas division to French oil group Total, which climbed 0.3 percent.