European stocks rose on Monday, with the benchmark index ending at a more-than-one-year closing high, as investors interpreted U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent meetings with international dignitaries as signaling a softer foreign-policy stance.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, -0.50% climbed 0.8% to 370.13, rising for a fifth straight session and logging its strongest close since Dec. 7, 2015 according to FactSet data.

On Monday, investors turned their attention back to the U.S. and the latest actions by Trump. The U.S. president over the weekend eased concerns of trade wars with Japan, saying the “United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100%” as he met with the country’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe.

The comments come after Trump also affirmed he would abide by the “One China” policy that has underpinned U.S.-Chinese relations for years.

“This is a big relief for investors given that Trump’s previous stance had raised serious foreign policy concerns, not to mention the prospect of severely damaged trade ties with the region and increased protectionism,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note.

“As [Trump] settles into the White House and provides greater detail on a wide range of policies, investors should gain a better understanding of what they’re dealing with which in turn should remove some of the uncertainty that is hanging over markets currently,” he added.

Trump, Japan's Abe talk economics and North Korea

Previous comments from Trump about global trade and foreign currencies had sparked concerns the new U.S. president would sever trade ties with key trading partners, which could slow global growth. Many European companies are dependent on the U.S. and Asian markets, so a slowdown in trade could hurt their profits.

Economic news: European markets were also given a boost by an upbeat forecast from the European Commission. The institution, the EU’s executive arm, lifted its 2017 growth forecasts for the EU to 1.8% from 1.6% forecast in November, saying the bloc has shown resilience to shocks last year, including the U.K.’s Brexit vote.

It also noted that for the first time in nearly 10 years, the Commission now expects all 28 member states to grow at the same time.

“There were some surprises in the forecasts including the prediction that the Greek economy would grow by 2.7% which seems rather optimistic to say the least,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, in a note.

Greece woes: Greece stayed in the headlines on Monday after a meeting between the country’s international creditors and Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos failed to bring a breakthrough in ongoing bailout negotiations that are necessary to release the next tranche of bailout money.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Greece’s bailout program is on “shaky ground” as the International Monetary Fund hasn’t decided yet if it’ll provide more financial aid. Chairman of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem, however, struck a more upbeat tone and said there had been “substantial progress” at Friday’s meeting.

Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission’s vice president for the euro, said in a speech on Monday that the IMF is too pessimistic on the Greek economy.

The Athex Composite Index GD, +0.31% on Monday erased an earlier loss to close up 0.9% at 629.14, while the yield on 10-year Greek government bonds rose 9 basis points to 7.495%.

Other indexes: Germany’s DAX 30 index DAX, -0.35% added 0.9% to 11,774.43, while France’s CAC 40 index PX1, -0.68% gained 1.2% to 4,888.19.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index UKX, -0.47% climbed 0.3% to 7,278.92.

Movers: Stada Arzneimittel AG DE:SAZ jumped 13% after saying it has started talks with Cinven Partners LLP and Advent International Corporation, two separate bidders interested in acquiring up to 100% of the German pharmaceutical company.

Shares of Saab AB SAAB.B, -0.91% slid 3.1% after the Swedish submarine maker reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed forecasts.

Shares of Lundin Petroleum AB SE:LUPE rose 1.5% after the oil and gas producer said it’ll spin off its non-Norwegian assets into a separately-listed company.