Europe seen higher; FTSE closed

European equities are expected to open higher Monday. The U.K.'s FTSE index is closed for a public holiday.

The U.K. is celebrating a public holiday Monday as the country enters polling week with Thursday's general election in focus. A hung parliament is looking more of a certainty as opinion polls show Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party, led by Ed Miliband, in a neck and neck race.

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Elsewhere in Europe, Greece is still in focus following further negotiations between the country and its lenders that concluded Sunday.

Negotiations made headway and an agreement could be closer this month, a government official told Reuters Sunday. The next big meeting for Greece and its lenders is during the Eurogroup meeting of finance ministers on May 11.

In Asia, stocks pared losses and edged up on Monday, as less-than-stellar data from China fueled bets that Beijing will unveil further support measures to prop up its stumbling economy.

The HSBC final purchasing managers' index (PMI) showed China's vast factory sector in contraction for April, with a reading of 48.9, its fastest drop in a year.

In other Asia news, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is reportedly on the verge of declaring China's currency fairly valued for the first time in more than a decade, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

There are no major earnings from Europe Monday. On the data front, final PMI numbers for the euro zone are expected.