European stocks are on a rampage

European stocks are charging upwards at the start the week, with all but one of the continent's major indexes up by more than 1%, after less than an hour of trading on Monday morning.

The upward moves come ahead of a key week in global central banking, with further policy action possible from both the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan, although the effectiveness of any new policies could be minimal, with market participants becoming increasingly frustrated with the limits of monetary policy.

Regardless of those fears, markets are taking a big leg up in Europe, following a solid trading session in Asia overnight.

In Britain, the FTSE 100 is up more than by 1.3%, led higher by strong mining stocks, which are boosted on the day by a weakening dollar. BHP Billiton, Anglo American, Glencore, and Fresnillo have all gained more than 3% so far on the day. Here's how the FTSE as a whole looked just before 9:00 a.m. BST (4:00 a.m. ET):

Across the channel, France's CAC 40 is the best performer, up roughly 1.2%, boosted like the FTSE, by commodity stocks. Oil firm Total, and steel giant ArcelorMittal are among the best performers in the country, up more than 2%. Here's the CAC:

Elsewhere, stocks gained more than 1% in early trading, but have since slipped a little, although most bourses are still around 1% higher. Here is the scoreboard:

Commenting on the market moves, Mike van Dulken of Accendo Markets said:

"The positive start to the week - yet another focused on global central bank policy - comes after gains in Asia overnight, albeit still without the full quota of regional bourses. Many may have returned for the first time since Wednesday, however, it is Japan's turn for a public holiday today. Note tech gremlins made for a rather troubled start to the week down under, resulting in a late open and early close for the ASX that could have a knock-on for dual-listed stocks in London."

Elsewhere in the markets, oil is higher by more than 1%, after hints over the weekend that a deal between producer nations to stabilise the oil markets could be on its way. As a result, Brent crude, the international benchmark, is 1.4% up, while US WTI crude has gained 1.2%.