• The giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal, the Ever Given, is said to have been refloated and is being secured.
• Credit Suisse plunged 15% after warning of a "highly significant" hit to its first-quarter results.

LONDON — European stocks were mostly higher on Monday, tracking positive sentiment seen elsewhere at the start of the trading week.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index climbed 0.2% by the afternoon, with food and beverages adding 0.9% to lead gains while financial services stocks fell 1.9%.

In Asia, stocks were mixed on Monday, with markets expected to get a further boost from reports that the giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal, the Ever Given, has been refloated and is being secured.

The vessel is one of the largest container ships in the world and became stuck last Tuesday after running aground while entering the Suez Canal from the Red Sea, holding up many other cargo ships in the process.

Investors will also be keeping an eye on U.S. stocks on Monday after a rush of broad-based late buying pushed the S&P 500 to a record high in the final minutes of Friday's session. Stock futures dipped in premarket trading on Monday, however.

Investors are awaiting updates from President Joe Biden about his infrastructure plan which could cost more than $3 trillion. The president is expected to give more details of his plan when he travels to Pittsburgh on Wednesday. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday Biden plans to roll out two packages in the coming months, the first covering infrastructure and the second covering health and family care.

Stocks on the move

Credit Suisse plunged 15% on Monday after warning of a "highly significant" hit to its first-quarter results. The Swiss lender said it began exiting positions with a large U.S. hedge fund that defaulted on margin calls last week.

Credit Suisse said a number of other banks were also affected and had begun exiting their positions with the unnamed firm.

Other major European banks, including Deutsche Bank, UBS and BNP Paribas, also took a tumble.

At the top of the European blue chip index, Cellnex Telecom climbed 4.8% after Singapore wealth fund GIC agreed to buy a 2.5% stake in the Spanish wireless company.

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- CNBC.com staff contributed to this market report.