European shares advanced on Monday, with banks and technology stocks rebounding from losses last week after markets were startled by political uncertainty in France, while Danish insurer Topdanmark surged on Sampo's buyout bid.

As of 0816 GMT, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.3%, coming off its worst weekly percentage fall so far this year.

Technology stocks led sectoral gains with a 1.6% jump after falling nearly 2% last week, while European banks advanced nearly 1% after tumbling more than 8% last week.

European markets have been under pressure after President Emmanuel Macron called for a snap election following a trouncing of his ruling centrist party by Marine Le Pen's eurosceptic National Rally in the European parliament elections.

"We're seeing the divergence between European and U.S. equities become very clear ... France has evidenced the most because of the snap election and the fear that right-wing parties could be gathering more and more," said Daniela Hathorn, a senior market analyst at Capital.com.

"There is a lot of indecision and a lot for the markets to take in."

Most bourses in the region rose on the day, with France's benchmark CAC 40 gaining 0.5% after falling more than 6% last week.

In contrast, basic resources shed 0.7% as most metal prices slipped after data showed top consumer China's industrial output was weaker than expected in May.

Separately, Italian EU-harmonised consumer prices (HICP) rose 0.2% month-on-month in May and were also up 0.8% from the year earlier, confirming preliminary data.

Inflation data in the UK along with a broader euro zone reading are due later this week, which is also packed with interest rate decisions from central banks in Switzerland, Norway and the UK.

Meanwhile, Wall Street bank Citi's global equity strategists cut European equities to "neutral" from "overweight", citing increased political risks after France's decision to call a snap parliamentary election.

Among individual stocks, Topdanmark jumped 20.4% after Finnish insurer Sampo agreed to buy its Danish rival in a deal that values the company at 33 billion crowns ($4.73 billion), the companies said. Sampo slumped nearly 3%.

Shares of ING, the largest Dutch lender by assets, gained 2.5% after the bank forecast total income growth of between 4% and 5% per year during 2024-2027.

British eateries operator SSP Group slipped 3.7% after Goldman Sachs downgraded it to "sell" from "neutral".

Adidas fell 1.5% after a report said that the company has launched an investigation into allegations of large-scale bribery in China. (Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru and Jesus Calero in Gdansk; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sonia Cheema)