(RTTNews) – European stocks closed higher on Monday with investors weighing economic data from the region and the U.S., and continuing to digest quarterly earnings announcements and other corporate news. With recent strong data from the U.S. and the euro area turning out to be fairly encouraging, worries about recession have eased a bit, lifting investor sentiment. After the June surge in U.S. non-farm payroll employment raised the odds of a third 75 basis-point rate hike in September, investors now looked ahead to the release of U.